Blackjack Bay Fire in Okefenokee Refuge

Blackjack Bay Fire in Okefenokee Refuge

For the past week, fires have raged across southeast Georgia, consuming nearly 40,000 acres of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. This true-color image of the largest fire near Blackjack Island, Georgia, was acquired on May 3, 2002, by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiomter (MODIS), flying aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.

The fire was ignited by lightning strikes and has spread quickly over a large area of scrub brush in the swamp. Although the fire is now endangering some buildings in nearby Stephen Foster State Park, no one has been injured or killed.

Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC