Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this image of southern California and the city of Los Angeles (center) on October 25, 2003. A huge wildfire was burning east of the city and has been detected by MODIS and marked with a red outline. The fire producing all the smoke is the Grand Prix Fire and to its east is the Old Fire. Northwest of the city is the smaller Piru Fire. Just one day later, several massive fires were raging across the region, driven by the fierce Santa Ana winds that blow toward the coast from the interior deserts.
Note: Often times, due to the size, browsers have a difficult time opening and displaying images. If you experiece an error when clicking on an image link, please try directly downloading the image (using a right click, save as method) to view it locally.