Natural Hazards >> Fires >> Fires in California
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Fires in California
In the last week of June 2008, California was the focal point of national fire activity. Over the first weekend of summer, record-breaking lightning activity in the state triggered hundreds of wildfires. Vegetation was dry due to months of drought, and some of the fires spread rapidly. As of June 26, the National Interagency Fire Center reported that 34 uncontained large forest fires were burning in the state, affecting nearly 190,000 acres. (That total does not count fires that are being allowed to burn with minimal management to benefit the ecosystem.) This natural-color image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows the state on June 25, 2008. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. (It is likely that additional fires were burning but could not be detected because of the thick smoke.) Fire activity is concentrated in Northern California, and the Sacramento Valley is filled with gray smoke. However, the largest fire in the scene is the Indians Fire, which was burning south of Salinas. That blaze was nearly 60,000 acres as of June 26, and about 70 percent contained. Just to the northeast is the Basin Complex Fire, which was about 20,000 acres. In the previous 24 hours, it grew more than 7,000 acres, and it was only 3 percent contained. Forecasters warned that hot weather and additional lightning storms were in the forecast for many areas during the upcoming weekend. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides the image in additional resolutions.
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey. Fires: Topic Home | Archive | Related Links Natural Hazards Home | Section FAQ |
Where in the World Image Posted June 26, 2008 Satellite & Sensor Aqua- MODIS Other Images for this Event Posted: Aug 15, 2008 Posted: Aug 11, 2008 Posted: Aug 04, 2008 Posted: Jul 29, 2008 Posted: Jul 25, 2008 Posted: Jul 23, 2008 Posted: Jul 21, 2008 Posted: Jul 16, 2008 Posted: Jul 15, 2008 Posted: Jul 14, 2008 Posted: Jul 14, 2008 Posted: Jul 11, 2008 Posted: Jul 10, 2008 Posted: Jul 10, 2008 Posted: Jul 10, 2008 Posted: Jul 08, 2008 Posted: Jul 08, 2008 Posted: Jul 07, 2008 Posted: Jul 03, 2008 Posted: Jul 02, 2008 Posted: Jul 01, 2008 Posted: Jun 30, 2008 Posted: Jun 27, 2008 Posted: Jun 25, 2008 Posted: Jun 24, 2008 Posted: Jun 23, 2008 Fires Latest Events Fires in Oregon and Northern California Fire in the Kalahari Fires in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa Fires in Central South America Fires in Idaho Bushfires in Northern Territory, Australia |
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