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October 4, 2024 - Wildfires in Wyoming
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Smoke from several wildfires streamed across Wyoming and over North Dakota in early October 2024. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the wildfires on October 2.
Hot, dry, and windy conditions created conditions ripe for rapid fire growth—and it only took a spark from lightning to spark two large fires in the Wyoming wilderness. The first to ignite was the Pack Trail Fire, was first discovered on September 15. By October 3, it had reached 18,744 acres and was zero percent contained, although an Incident Management Team is actively suppressing the fire according to InciWeb Incident Information System (InciWeb). It is burning on both the Bridger-Teton National Forest and the Shoshone National Forest in Western Wyoming. This is the western-most fire in this image and is marked by a bright red “hot spot” and smoke streaming eastward.
The larger hot spot in the east represents the actively burning Elk Fire which is burning in heavy dead and down timber near Riley Point and West Pass on the Bighorn National Forest. First detected on the evening of September 27, this fire has burnt about 50,361 acres as of October 3 and was zero percent contained, according to InciWeb. This fire was also caused by lightning and its location in rough, remote territory make it a challenge to suppress. Air attack and ground crews initially responded, which included retardant and bucket drops from airtankers and a helicopter. Hand crews are on scene and more resources will be arriving over the next few days.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/2/2024
Resolutions:
1km (666.8 KB), 500m (2.3 MB), 250m (6.9 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Smoke from several wildfires streamed across Wyoming and over North Dakota in early October 2024. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the wildfires on October 2.
Hot, dry, and windy conditions created conditions ripe for rapid fire growth—and it only took a spark from lightning to spark two large fires in the Wyoming wilderness. The first to ignite was the Pack Trail Fire, was first discovered on September 15. By October 3, it had reached 18,744 acres and was zero percent contained, although an Incident Management Team is actively suppressing the fire according to InciWeb Incident Information System (InciWeb). It is burning on both the Bridger-Teton National Forest and the Shoshone National Forest in Western Wyoming. This is the western-most fire in this image and is marked by a bright red “hot spot” and smoke streaming eastward.
The larger hot spot in the east represents the actively burning Elk Fire which is burning in heavy dead and down timber near Riley Point and West Pass on the Bighorn National Forest. First detected on the evening of September 27, this fire has burnt about 50,361 acres as of October 3 and was zero percent contained, according to InciWeb. This fire was also caused by lightning and its location in rough, remote territory make it a challenge to suppress. Air attack and ground crews initially responded, which included retardant and bucket drops from airtankers and a helicopter. Hand crews are on scene and more resources will be arriving over the next few days.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/2/2024
Resolutions:
1km (666.8 KB), 500m (2.3 MB), 250m (6.9 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
