Fires triggered by lightning in the week of June 14 have continued to burn across eastern Alaska on June 23, 2003. This image captured by the Terra satellite’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) shows numerous large fires scorching the landscape and filling the skies with thick smoke. Some of the most extreme fire behavior is occurring at the Pingo and Winter Trail Fires (top). The Pingo fire grew 16,690 acres since the previous day’s mapping, to reach a size of 52,930 acres. The Winter Trail Fire grew rapidly to the north and east, increasing by more than 32,000 acres between mapping periods on June 22 and 23, and was 49,670 as of June 23.
Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
