In southwestern Oregon, almost 200,000 acres are burning in the Klamath Mountains (red dots southwest of image center). Thousands of residents in towns in the Illinois River Valley region are under 30-minute evacuation notices, which means they should be ready to leave their homes within 30 minutes should firefighters decide they are in danger. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite shows the area blanketed with smoke on July 31, 2002.

The Florence Fire doubled in size over the course of a day, and is now more than 150,000 acres. Just a few miles to the south, the Sour Biscuit Fire is approaching 34,000 acres in size. Neither fire is close to being contained. Thousands of residences, outbuildings and commercial structures are threatened.

Image by Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA-GSFC

Instrument: 

Terra - MODIS