On June 22, 2013, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of the West Fork fire complex burning in the San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests of southwestern Colorado. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fire. The fires were burning in rugged terrain with large amounts of beetle-killed spruce forests. South Fork, a nearby town with about 400 people, has been evacuated.
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Adam Voiland.
