NASA MODIS Image of the Day: July 8, 2011 – Las Conchas fire near Los Alamos, New Mexico
The Las Conchas Fire continued to burn in the forests near Los Alamos, New Mexico on July, 5, 2011.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite captured this true-color image at 20:10 UTC (2:10 p.
m. Mountain Daylight Time) that same afternoon. The fire burns most intensely in three large hotspots, indicated by red marks in this image. These are areas where the instrument detected temperatures greater than the background. Gray smoke accompanies the hotspots, and wind blows the smoke to the west. Although the smoke appears to be thick and covers a large area, it is clearly diminished compared to earlier MODIS images. The Las Conchas Fire began on June 26 when an aspen tree was blown down onto nearby power lines during a period of strong winds. According to a team of investigators, this resulted in the line arcing, which then caused the tree to catch fire. Intense heat and flame caused the power lines to snap, which then allowed the burning tree to fall on the ground. The vegetation was extremely dry, and the fire spread quickly. Within five days of ignition, Las Conchas became the largest fire in New Mexico history. On June 27, mandatory evacuations were ordered for the city of Los Alamos. Also on that date, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) closed to all non-essential personnel. A spot fire burned approximately one acre on the LANL property before it was extinguished. On July 3, Los Alamos residents were permitted to return to their homes and LANL reopened on July 6. On July 7, Inciweb reported the fire size to be calculated at 136,955 acres. All fire activity had remained within the perimeter for the prior 24 hours, although the fire made large runs northwest of Los Alamos. Firefighters continue to monitor weather conditions for the possibility of thunderstorms, as well as watching for gusty, variable winds which can cause erratic fire behavior and make the fire more difficult to contain. The fire was reported to be 40% contained on the evening of July 7.
