Wildfire near Santa Cruz, Portugal (2026)

Wildfire near Santa Cruz — Sentinel-2 true color

Wildfire near Santa Cruz — 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

Key facts

Source: NASA FIRMS

Official statusIn ProgressActive, with crews working on it.

JurisdictionANEPC

The story so far

About 15 km west of Santa Cruz.

Summary written on Aug 19, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

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. That size is an estimate from satellite hotspots, not a measured area.

In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.