Over 1,800 fires ravaged São Paulo in 90 minutes, displacing hundreds and sparking fears of an environmental apocalypse
In the space of just 90 minutes last Friday morning, August 23, satellite imaging captured 1,861 thermal hotspots across the countryside of São Paulo state, representing forest fires.
The flames were relentless. Over 800 people were forced to flee as blazes ravaged 44,600 hectares of land, claiming two lives and sending four others to the hospital with burns and smoke inhalation.
The devastation struck primarily agricultural areas, decimating sugar cane fields and pasturelands. The impact was so severe that global sugar prices surged by 3.5 percent.
In several municipalities, the sky turned ominously black, casting an eerie, dystopian shadow over the landscape.
The number of fires last week exceeded those of the previous two years combined for the same point in August. Although unusually hot, dry, and windy conditions contributed to their spread, officials believe 99.9 percent of the blazes were acts of arson.
This catastrophic burning in São Paulo comes amid a broader crisis of widespread fires in the Amazon and Pantanal regions this year.
The scenes were so surreal that Brazilian netizens likened them to a science fiction movie—comparable to the dystopian landscapes of the Mad Max franchise.
As the fires disrupted food production and ashes clouded the skies, many asked, half in irony, half in despair: Are we witnessing the beginning of our own apocalypse?