30 cities approached by wildfires in Brazil's state of Sao Paolo - State of Emergency in 45 municipalities

Brazil's São Paulo state reported on Friday evening that wildfires were impacting or threatening 30 cities, with two fatalities occurring at an industrial plant where workers attempted to contain the fire. 

The affected cities have been experiencing dry and hot weather in recent days, according to a government statement.

The government reported that two employees died at an industrial plant in the city of Urupês on Friday while battling a fire, though no further details were provided.

The state government also cautioned that strong winds could cause the forest fires to spread rapidly, potentially devastating large areas of natural vegetation.

So far, the government had not reported that the flames have directly reached the city of São Paulo, which is Latin America’s largest city with over 11 million residents. However, local media have noted that smoke is obscuring parts of the sky over the state capital, Reuters reported. 

Photo Credit: (Above) Wikipedia Commons License. 

Fog in the early morning hours in the forests surrpounding th city of Sao Paolo, Brazil Date: 5 am 12 May 2011.  Author: Anagoria

Wildfires continued to burn across São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state, throughout the weekend, sending plumes of smoke into the sky and prompting authorities to declare a "war against the fire," DW.com reported on Sunday. 

The fires spread across southeastern Brazil, leading São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas to declare a state of emergency in 45 municipalities. 

He also announced the arrest of two individuals suspected of intentionally starting fires.

The wildfires ravaged sugarcane fields, and local media reported several cattle deaths due to smoke and heat. The fires also caused significant disruptions, with authorities closing highways due to poor visibility and canceling a Brazilian championship football match in Ribeirão Preto. 

In São José do Rio Preto, more than 300 fires were reportedly detected, forcing the closure of schools.

More than 2000 forest fires in the area

Crisis24 writes that the state is responding to more than 2,000 active forest fires. 

The government has deployed the military to assist with firefighting operations, with a particular focus on Ribeirão Preto, where power outages, air pollution, and water supply issues have been reported. 

Other severely impacted areas include Pitangueiras, Altinópolis, and Sertãozinho. 

Additionally, around 15 highways across the state are either fully or partially blocked due to the fires.

Fire season began early in May

Brazil is currently experiencing the peak of its dry, hot season, with low humidity and high temperatures contributing to a surge in wildfires across the southeast, which is also grappling with drought conditions.

This year’s wildfire season began unusually early in May in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetlands. Additionally, government data revealed that the number of fires in the Amazon rainforest reached a two-decade high in July.

Extreme weather has had a severe impact on Brazil, also leading to rare flooding in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which resulted in more than 170 deaths.

Almost 1000 % increase in fires 2024 compared to 2023 in the Pantanal region

According to Wikipedia (August 26, 2024) in 2024, a total of 13,489 severe wildfires burned 32,000 hectares of tropical wetland in Brazil's Pantanal region in Mato Grosso do Sul, as well as several other areas in the Cerrado and Amazon. 

According to satellite data from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, the number of fires recorded from the beginning of 2024 to June 10 showed a 935% increase compared to the same period in 2023, with 1,315 fires reported, up from just 127 in 2023.