The Cave Creek Fire northeast of Phoenix, Arizona, has been spreading quickly from its point of origin (by lightning) in the Tonto National Forest to the north and west. Small towns, endangered species habitat, and high-voltage powerlines are all threatened. This image of the Cave Creek Complex Fire was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on June 30, 2005. Active fire locations are outlined in red. Vegetation is bright green, naturally bare or thinly vegetated soil is tan or pink, and burned areas are deep reddish-brown. Within the red fire-perimeter outlines, bright pink spots show where openly flaming portions of the fire are emitting infrared energy.
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
