January 15, 2014 - Fires in coastal Oregon and California (morning overpass)

Fires in coastal Oregon and California (morning overpass)

Several fires burned in Oregon and California in early January, 2014. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of the region, showing long plumes of smoke rising from winter fires and streaming across the Pacific Ocean on January 5, 2014. Each fire is marked in red, which indicates “hot spots” where the thermal sensors on the MODIS instrument detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fires.

The most notable fire in Oregon is the Bone Mountain Fire, which charred more than 280 acres (110 hectares). It began as a prescribed fire intended to clear out logging debris, but slipped out of control. Another prescribed burn, the West Silver Fire, also burned out of control to the southwest. Authorities first lit the prescribed d fires on December 6, 2013. They were thought to be out, but later reignited due to abnormally dry and windy conditions. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the part of Oregon where the blazes occurred was experiencing “moderate drought”.

In California, the Campbell Fire burned within the Ishi Wilderness Area boundary north of Campbellville in Tehama County. The fire ignited on January 2 at about 8:00 p.m., due to unknown causes, according to Inciweb. It was 100% contained on January 10, after burning 865 acres (350 hectares) of timber.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 1/5/2013
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC