Wildfire near São João del-Rei, Brazil (2026)

Wildfire near São João del-Rei — Sentinel-2 true color

Wildfire near São João del-Rei — 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 Jul 24, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

An active wildfire burning near São João del-Rei, Brazil, is currently displaying an intense heat signature as detected by satellites. The blaze has scorched a total of 130 hectares (321 acres) since it first ignited on July 23, 2026.

Monitoring systems have recorded 5 heat detections in the surrounding area over the past 48 hours, highlighting the ongoing spread of the fire front.

In context

This wildfire burned in Brazil for 2 days. In total it burned about 130 ha (321 acres) — around 1.3 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.