July 31, 2008 - Fires in Central Canada

Fires in Central Canada

According to the July 23 report from the Canadian Forest Service, fire activity in the third week of July 2008 was near average. The number of fires was "typical," and the area burned was just slightly above average. Nevertheless, fire danger was extreme in parts of the country, including across a swath of land stretching northeast from southern British Columbia to the Great Slave Lake region in the Northwest Territories (top).

This natural-color satellite image from the MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows Great Slave Lake (upper left corner) and neighboring parts of Alberta (lower left) and Saskatchewan (lower center) on July 26, 2008. Numerous large fires (marked in red) billow clouds of gray-brown smoke.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 07/26/2008
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC