The Bastrop County Complex Fire in southern Texas started on September 4, 2011. By September 13, the fire was 70 percent contained, but had scorched 34,068 acres (13,787 hectares). The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured these images of the region on September 12, 2011.
The false-color image (top) shows a wide-area view of the fire. Vegetation is bright green, and sparsely vegetated or bare land is green-yellow. The burn scar appears in shades of red and orange. Far from uniform, the burned areas are separated by unburned expanses. The area outlined in white in the top image corresponds to the close-up view provided in the natural-color image (bottom). Land in and around the Circle D-KC Estates is charred to shades of brown and gray.
As of September 13, a re-entry plan had been established for residents of the region, the Incident Information System reported. Residents were warned, however, that they might see vegetation smoldering or burning.
Ongoing drought set the stage for severe fires in Texas in the slate summer of 2011. In early September, Tropical Storm Lee, which drenched other parts of the United States, brought strong winds to Texas, worsening the fires.
NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team. Caption by Michon Scott.
