Wildfire near Paulista, Brazil (2026)

Wildfire near Paulista — Sentinel-2 true color

Wildfire near Paulista — Sentinel-2 SWIR (fuego)

True view Fire view

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True view (left): as the eye sees it.
Fire view (right): infrared (SWIR), sees through smoke and brings out the heat.

🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 brown = already burned
🟠 orange = fire right now

Drag to compare: normal photo on the left, heat brought out on the right.

Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus

The story so far

Summary written on Aug 18, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Satellites are picking up an intense heat signature from an active wildfire burning near Paulista, Brazil, with 31 heat detections registered over the past 48 hours alone. The fast-moving blaze, which began on August 17, 2026, has already consumed 500 hectares, equivalent to 1,236 acres, as it cuts across the landscape during the region's typical fire season that runs from August to October.

This ongoing incident unfolds against a much broader national backdrop. Across the country, a total of 3,040,278 hectares have burned so far in 2026, a figure that remains 90 percent below the two-decade average for this time of year.

In context

This wildfire burned in Brazil for 2 days. In total it burned about 500 ha (1,236 acres) — around 5.0 km². That size is an estimate from satellite hotspots, not a measured area.

Close to the tropics, fires tend to follow the dry season and are often linked to land-clearing rather than a single summer peak.