Fires in the Northwest US

Credit: Credit: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC, Posted on: Wednesday, 23 July 2003, 06:00 CDT Download full size image

On Monday afternoon, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite detected several large fires (marked with red outlines) burning across the Northwest United States. The largest of the fires in the scene is the Fawn Peak Complex Fire in northern Washington.

This complex consisted of three fires—the Fawn Peak, Farewell Fire, and Sweetgrass Fire—that were started by lightning on June 29, 2003. By July 16, the Fawn Peak and Sweetgrass Fires were under control, but the Farewell Creek Fire continues to grow rapidly in the steep, dry, and rugged terrain of the Pasayten Wilderness. The fire had grown to almost 50,000 acres as of Monday, July 21, when this image was captured by the satellite. In the close-up image, the hot spots have been enhanced in yellow to show the areas where actively burning fires were detected by MODIS. Details of the smoke plume are evident as well.

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