NASA MODIS Image of the Day: August 3, 2011 – Lion Fire in central California
Burning in the Golden Trout Wilderness and the Sequoia National Forest, the Lion Fire reached 17,436 acres on July 29, 2011.
Lightning ignited the fire on July 8.
As the fire grew, it forced parts of Golden Trout Wilderness and Sequoia National Park to close. As of July 29, the fire is 15 percent contained and continues to grow. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite took this image on July 28. The actively burning area is outlined in red. The Lion Fire is burning in the southern Sierra Nevada Range, which is still capped with snow in this image. Smoke from the fire has affected air quality in parts of California’s Central Valley, visible to the west of the fire in this image. On Sunday July 31, much of the Lion Fire received intermittent rain, which slowed the growth of the fires. According to Inciweb Incident Information System, the fire had not grown between that time and August 3. On that date, the acreage involved in the fire remained at 19,046 acres, but the containment was increased to 55%. The fire remains active, especially along the southern flank and continues to reduce surface fuel such as accumulations of logs, shrubs, and needle-cast and fallen leaves from trees, with little tree mortality.
