On September 7, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of the Rough Fire burning in California’s Sierra National Forest. Red outlines indicate hot spots where the sensor detected unusually warm surface temperatures generally associated with fires. Thick plumes of smoke drifted from the hot spots.
InciWeb reported that as of September 8, 2015, the fire spanned about 397 square kilometers (153 square miles), and was the largest active fire in California. Smoke from the fire on that day was expected to affect air quality northwest of the fire, in the San Joaquin Valley foothills.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office had issued a statement noting that mandatory evacuation notices would be issued to residents near where the fire is burning. The wildfire was caused by lightning and has been burning since July 31, 2015.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using data from the Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE). Caption by Kathryn Hansen.
