Fires in Southern California
Fires in Southern California
19September 2006
Northwest of Los Angeles, the Day Fire was churning out a thick, snake-like plume of smoke (see large image) on 17 September 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this image. Places where the sensor detected actively burning fire are outlined in red. The smoke blankets several of the Channel Islands, leaving Santa Rosa partially visible.
AQUA
17 September 2006
The human-caused fire had been burning since 4 September in mixed brush and scattered timber in the Los Padres and Angeles National Forests and the Sespe Wilderness. As of 18 September 2006, the 24,500-hectare fire was only about 15 percent contained. Evacuations and road closures were in place in the area, including the northwest part of Fillmore.
The Day Fire grew explosively over the weekend of 16 September, when winds picked up dramatically. The blaze grew more than 20,000 hectares in one day according to an article on the LATimes.com Website. Daily images of the area provided by the MODIS Rapid Response Team show a dramatic difference in the fires size and smokiness on 16 and 17 September. According to the daily report from the National Interagency Fire Center, the rapidly spreading fire threatened homes, a watershed, campgrounds, power and gas lines, and communications equipment.
(source: EarthObservatory).
For more information see:
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National Interagency Fire Center
