The massive area burned was primarily caused by anthropogenic climate change and the resulting consequences of the 2023–2024 South American drought on fire conditions.

[3] Beginning in 2023, prolonged drought conditions impacted most of South America as a result of lighter seasonal rainfall in the Amazon and "warming of northern tropical Atlantic Ocean waters" and the Equatorial Pacific due to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation climate phenomenon.

[5] In the central regions of Brazil, temperatures reached 1 °C above the 1.5 °C average global increase, resulting in large amounts of rain evaporating before it could move deeper into the soil.

[6] In May 2024, the Brazilian savannah of the Cerrado suffered from its worst drought in over 700 years based on geological research of stalagmites in the open entrance Onça Cave.

[1] Forest fires in Bolivia began in June, and began to grow out of control by August and September, destroying 4 million hectares (10 million acres) of grassland and forest areas in the departments of La Paz, Cochabamba, Beni, Santa Cruz, and Pando, while emitting significant amounts of smoke and air pollution.

[9] By early September, The Bolivian government declared a state of emergency for the entire nation, and 5,000 volunteer firefighters were assigned to mitigate the blazes.

Bolivian Minister of Defense Edmundo Novillo requested international support, of which Brazil, Venezuela, and France stated that they would offer assistance.

[12] In late August, wildfires caused by prolonged drought conditions and strong wind gusts impacted thirty cities in São Paulo state, either directly affecting them or burning near them.

[23] The government of Mexico sent a team of 30 firefighters from the National Forestry Commission and 127 Army and Air Force personnel,[24] together with 26 tons of food supplies.

[33] By 15 September, 222 fire emergencies were reported, the largest of which were detected in the departments of Amazonas, Ancash, Cuzco, Madre de Dios, San Martin, and Ucayali.