Wildfires in Peru: what the satellite could measure

Updated:

Remote sensing · Sentinel-2 · NASA FIRMS

Map of the burned area in Chichas (Arequipa) measured with Sentinel-2, with fire severity in colors and VIIRS heat hotspots as dots
Figure. Burned area in Chichas with Sentinel-2 (15 to 20 October 2026); dots are VIIRS heat hotspots. Sources: NASA FIRMS, Copernicus Sentinel-2 and ESA WorldCover 2021.

1,690 ha burned in an area with no hotspots recorded between 2012 and 2025

Question

How much burned in Peru's largest fires in October 2026?

Finding

In Chichas (Arequipa), 1,690 ha burned, 4.3% of the district, in an area with no heat hotspot recorded between 2012 and 2025, which rules out recurring managed burning. Only 4 of the 20 largest fires could be measured; clouds covered the rest.

Page

Before and after

True-color Sentinel-2 image of the same area on 20 October 2026, with the dark scar of the fire
True-color Sentinel-2 image of the Chichas area on 15 October 2026, before the fire
Before · 15 Oct 2026 After · 20 Oct 2026
Figure. True-color Sentinel-2, same crop and color adjustment. The white and dark patches at the lower right on 20 October are clouds and their shadows.

Sources

The map combines heat hotspots from NASA FIRMS (VIIRS), Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery from Planetary Computer and the ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover. The figures come from the repository and the project page. The map does not replace official reports.

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