The government of São Paulo announced a report on fines issued for crimes related to arson in 2024, totaling R$25 million in fines. Between January 1 and September 16, 2024, 2,392 incidents were responded to and 2,159 vegetation fires were inspected throughout the state. 420 environmental infraction reports were issued for incidents that affected 107 thousand hectares. 
The state communications department also confirmed that 23 people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in intentional fire-starting. The first arrest was on August 21 and the police have ruled out any correlation between those involved so far, unlike what the Federal Police have indicated in relation to the investigations into the fires in the Central-West and North regions of the country.
At an event on Saturday (14), in São Carlos, in the interior of São Paulo, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, stated that the losses in São Paulo had already reached R$2 billion for farmers, mainly sugarcane growers. According to her, 900 thousand hectares of agricultural and livestock areas have already been burned, 1.4 million hectares of pastureland and 1 million hectares of forest areas.
Despite the considerable decrease in active fires, the alert for fires in the state predicts an increase in areas in a state of emergency. The highest risk area should regress again from Saturday (21) with the advance of a new cold front, brief like the one that dropped temperatures across the state since Monday (16).
The city of São Paulo, which reached 35°C last week, recorded temperatures of around 14.3°C tonight. In the early hours of the morning, an average minimum temperature of 13°C is forecast, with little precipitation. September is expected to be a drier month than the historical average in the region.
