NASA MODIS Image of the Day: November 21, 2012 – Creek Fire, California
On November 13, 2012 a prescribed burn in Montana de Oro State Park slipped containment and became a wildfire. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of the fire and the accompanying smoke plume, which curved southwestward across the Pacific Ocean at 19:15 UTC (11:15 a.m. PST) on that same day. According to CAL FIRE, stronger than expected off-shore winds fanned the prescribed fire onto the north side of Coon Creek. Once out of control, the fire burned 100 acres before being 100% contained on November 15. The 430 acre prescribed fire was being conducted to improve the health of wildlife habitat, to improve range for cattle and to reduce the impacts of a wildland fire by burning old overgrown vegetation under controlled conditions.
