Wildfire near Santa Cruz
True color
Fire (SWIR)
Infrared / SWIR (right): sees through smoke.
🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 red/brown = burned
🟠 orange = active fire
Imagery: Sentinel-2 (Copernicus). Drag to compare smoke vs. infrared.
Heat detections: NASA FIRMS (last 48h).
Quick facts
- Personnel
- 350
- Jurisdiction
- ANEPC
Burning near Santa Cruz, Portugal, an active wildfire has scorched 200 hectares, equivalent to 494 acres, since it started on August 18, 2026. Satellites are picking up an intense heat signature from the blaze, while space-based sensors have detected eight heat signatures clustering nearby over the last 48 hours.
A response force of 73 personnel mobilized by the ANEPC is currently deployed to tackle the incident. This event occurs within Portugal's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Regionally, the fire unfolds against a broader backdrop where 62,263 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a figure that sits 41% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Portugal for 2 days. In total it burned about 200 ha (494 acres) — around 2.0 km².
In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.
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