Vilanova de Meià
General information
- Category
- Wildfire
- Fire classification
- Convective plume
- Country
- Catalonia, Spain
- Year
- 2024
© Catalan Fire and Rescue Service
© Catalan Fire and Rescue Service
The Vilanova de Meià wildfire originated in a cereal field and rapidly extended into the forest, evading the capabilities of the fire service. The accessibility of the area presented a significant challenge, which made the tasks more difficult to complete. Due to the high intensity of the fire and the fuel availability, it is recorded spotting up to 400 metres, resulting in a significant increase in the affected area. In these circumstances, a notable convective plume was observed, accompanied by a short-lived Overshooting PyroCu. The presence of a prescribed burning plot and the implementation of effective decision-making strategies, coupled with the comprehensive deployment of firefighting resources, enabled the fire to be contained to an area of 65 hectares.
Fire behaviour and surface observations
| Start location lat | 41.947036 deg N |
| Start location lon | 1.072223 deg E |
| Start location name | Vilanova de Meià |
| Start hour | 09/08/2024 13:29:00 (UTC) |
| Surface affected | 70 ha |
| Fire behavior | Passive crown fire, high intensity |
| Torching head | 40 % |
| Torching flanks | 20 % |
| Flame length mean head | 7 m |
| Flame length max head | 20 m |
| Flame length mean flanks | 4 m |
| Flame length max flanks | 8 m |
| Spotting mean | 20 m |
| Spotting max | 400 m |
| Rate of spread mean | m/h |
| Rate of spread max | 1000 m/h |
| Burn ratio mean | ha/h |
| Burn ratio max | ha/h |
