Portugal Wildfires September 2024 — Burn Severity Map & Satellite Analysis

About this fire

September 2024 saw Portugal’s worst wildfire episode since the catastrophic 2017 season. A combination of extreme drought (after the hottest summer on record in Iberia), low humidity, and strong easterly winds created conditions where multiple fires ignited and spread rapidly across the forested hills of northern and central Portugal. The fires burned across roughly 110,000 hectares of pine and eucalyptus plantations, cork oak and chestnut forest, olive groves and vineyards.

At least 9 people died and dozens were injured. Entire communities were evacuated. The smoke plume was visible from space, drifting across the Atlantic. Portugal, which has the highest proportion of forest fires of any EU country relative to its land area, faced renewed criticism about eucalyptus monoculture — the fast-growing pulp tree that is highly profitable but extremely flammable, and which has expanded dramatically across the country’s interior over the past four decades. The fires hit agricultural land as well as forest: vineyards in the Douro and Vinho Verde regions were threatened, olive groves and chestnut orchards burned, and smoke taint affected grapes being harvested at the time.

Timeline & severity

Date	Event
15 Sep 2024	Multiple fires ignite across Norte and Centro regions during extreme drought and easterly winds
15–25 Sep 2024	Fires spread rapidly through eucalyptus and pine plantations, cork oak forest, and farmland
25 Sep 2024	Fires contained after 10 days
Post-fire	110,000 ha burned; 9+ deaths; significant agricultural and timber losses

For farmers, the impact was double: direct fire damage to crops and infrastructure, plus smoke taint affecting grapes being harvested at the time — a financial loss that extends beyond the visibly burned area.

Satellite analysis

This page presents a dNBR burn severity analysis from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery. The severity map reveals where fires burned hottest and where agricultural and forest land survived — critical information for insurance claims, recovery planning, and targeting erosion-control measures before winter rains. The dNBR classification quantifies how many hectares fell into each USGS severity class across the full 110,000-hectare fire footprint, distinguishing surface fire from stand-replacing crown fire.

Read our full guide: What is NBR? →

Recovery outlook

Post-fire recovery in northern Portugal faces several challenges. Fast-growing eucalyptus may resprout quickly, but the fire hazard it represents will return with it. Native cork oak and chestnut forest, more fire-resistant but slower to recover, will need decades. Agricultural recovery — particularly for vineyards and olive groves — requires assessment of both direct fire damage to trees/vines and smoke taint to the harvested crop. Satellite monitoring of NDVI and NBR over the coming seasons will be essential to distinguish natural regrowth from areas needing replanting, and to detect erosion before winter rains cause secondary damage.

Free report: Check your field’s fire risk this month — free satellite analysis, no signup. Analyze my land’s fire impact →