Northeast of Tucson, Arizona, the Aspen Fire (center) still had several actively burning regions on June 24, 2003. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Terra satellite on that day shows active fire locations marked with red outlines. After six days of extreme fire conditions (high temperatures, gusty winds, low humidity), firefighters were predicted to get a break on Wednesday, with fire conditions becoming more moderate as winds calmed somewhat. As of Tuesday, June 24, when this image was captured, the fire had grown to more than 20,000 acres.
Also visible in the image is the Helen's 2 Fire, which was started by lightning on June 17. That fire is roughly 35 percent contained. In the full scene, several other fires are visible in New Mexico, to the east of Arizona. In the far upper left of the image, the Powell Fire is burning on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
