Forest Fire in Southwest Australia

March 11 12:00:00, 2003

A forest fire near the south coast town of Walpole, Australia, is being reported as one of the largest in memory. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from March 11, 2003, shows the active fire marked with a red outline. According to media reports the fire is not currently threatening any homes, but the prodigious amount of smoke is hampering visibility on roadways and reducing air quality. A false-color image of the same scene reveals burn scars from other fires to the east in bright red against surrounding vegetation.

Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC