Images
October 3, 2010 - Twitchell Canyon Fire in central Utah
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Dense smoke pours from the Twitchell Canyon Fire in southwest Utah on September 29, 2010 as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this true-color image as it passed overhead. The densest areas of smoke appear as a thick white plume arising at the southwest corner of the large red hotspots. The smoke blows generally southward from the fire, and stalls as it reaches a semi-stationary veil which covers southern Utah, northern Arizona, southern Nevada and southwest Colorado.
A lightning strike on July 20, 2010 ignited the fire. Almost 11 weeks later, the fire continues to burn. According to InciWeb Incident Information System, the fire was only 30% contained on October 1, with over 500 fire fighters working to establish fire breaks and fighting the flames directly. Active fire fronts were being attacked by helicopters and large aircraft dropping fire retardant. To date, 44,446 acres have been destroyed by fire and there have been 29 reportable injuries since the start of the fire. Most of them were minor bodily injuries, and the rest were illness, generally respiratory illness.
An unstable air mass moved into the fire area on the night of September 30, bringing the threat of thunderstorm and gusty wind to the area. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning, meaning that weather conditions are right for extreme fire behavior. Several roads continue to be closed, to provide for public and firefighter safety, and allow equipment to move into some areas. Resources will continue to work to contain fire spread to the south of I-70. InciWeb Incident Information Systems estimates the Growth Potential of this fire as high.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 9/29/2010
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Dense smoke pours from the Twitchell Canyon Fire in southwest Utah on September 29, 2010 as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this true-color image as it passed overhead. The densest areas of smoke appear as a thick white plume arising at the southwest corner of the large red hotspots. The smoke blows generally southward from the fire, and stalls as it reaches a semi-stationary veil which covers southern Utah, northern Arizona, southern Nevada and southwest Colorado.
A lightning strike on July 20, 2010 ignited the fire. Almost 11 weeks later, the fire continues to burn. According to InciWeb Incident Information System, the fire was only 30% contained on October 1, with over 500 fire fighters working to establish fire breaks and fighting the flames directly. Active fire fronts were being attacked by helicopters and large aircraft dropping fire retardant. To date, 44,446 acres have been destroyed by fire and there have been 29 reportable injuries since the start of the fire. Most of them were minor bodily injuries, and the rest were illness, generally respiratory illness.
An unstable air mass moved into the fire area on the night of September 30, bringing the threat of thunderstorm and gusty wind to the area. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning, meaning that weather conditions are right for extreme fire behavior. Several roads continue to be closed, to provide for public and firefighter safety, and allow equipment to move into some areas. Resources will continue to work to contain fire spread to the south of I-70. InciWeb Incident Information Systems estimates the Growth Potential of this fire as high.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 9/29/2010
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
