Wildfire near Tarascon-sur-Ariège, France (2026)

Wildfire near Tarascon-sur-Ariège — Sentinel-2 true color

Wildfire near Tarascon-sur-Ariège — 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

About 10 km northwest of Tarascon-sur-Ariège.

Burning for 42 days near Tarascon-sur-Ariège in France, a wildfire that started on September 28, 2026, has now ended. Satellites tracked a low heat intensity from the fire front before the incident concluded, alongside an estimated size of 130 hectares, or about 321 acres, determined via satellite hotspots.

This event occurred outside the region's typical fire season, which usually runs from June to September. Meanwhile, the broader national landscape has faced severe fire conditions, with 98,727 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 569% above the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire burned in France for 1 day. 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.

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