High Park Fire in Colorado

The High Park Fire, burning about 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Fort Collins, Colorado, was discovered just before 6:00 a.m. on June 9, 2012, according to news reports. Perhaps started by a lightning strike, the fire quickly grew, fed by tinderbox fuels and high winds. By the morning of June 11, 2012, the blaze had burned nearly 37,000 acres (15,000 hectares) and was continuing to grow. There was no containment.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured these images of the fire on June 9, 2012 (top), and June 10, 2012 (bottom). Red outlines approximate the boundaries of the actively burning fire. Thick smoke from the fire blows eastward on both days, and covers a wider area on June 10.
As of June 11, 2012, the fire had burned 18 structures, and one person was missing. Authorities expressed concern that firefighting resources were stretched thin between this and other active fires in Wyoming and New Mexico. In fact, the same satellite passes observed multiple fires on the morning and afternoon of June 9.
Soon after starting, the High Park fire spread in all directions, news reports stated, and much of the fuel for the High Park Fire came from stands of beetle-killed trees. By the time this blaze started, mountain pine beetle outbreaks had killed vast tracts of trees in western North America. (Effects of the beetle outbreak in British Columbia can be seen in a color-coded map and satellite imagery.) In northern Colorado, the High Park Fire was also burning green grass in some places, the local fire authority chief said.

1. References

2. InciWeb. (2012, June 11) High Park Fire. Accessed June 11, 2012.
3. McGhee, T., Whaley, M. (2012, June 11) Colorado wildfire: Federal firefighters due to help at High Park fire. The Denver Post. Accessed June 11, 2012.
4. Nicholson, K., Whaley, M. (2012, June 11) Colorado wildfire: High Park Fire in Larimer County now nearly 37,000 acres. The Denver Post. Accessed June 11, 2012.
5. Nicholson, K., Whaley, M. (2012, June 11) High Park Fire in Larimer County now up to 36,000 acres burned. The Denver Post. Accessed June 11, 2012.

1. Links

2. Insect Damage in British Columbia Forests. NASA Earth Observatory.
3. Pine Beetle Infestation in British Columbia. NASA Earth Observatory.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the LANCE MODIS Rapid Response team. Caption by Michon Scott.

Instrument: 

Aqua - MODIS - NASA