Fires Scorch Oregon

Fires Scorch Oregon

In southwest Oregon, the Biscuit Fire (left) and the Tiller Complex Fire (center) continue to grow. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from August 14, 2002, shows the pillars of smoke arising from the fires. More than 6,000 fire personnel are assigned to the Biscuit Fire alone, which was 390, 276 acres as of Friday morning, August 15, and only 26 percent contained. Among the resources threatened are thousands of homes, three nationally designated wild and scenic rivers, and habitat for several categories of plants and animals at risk of extinction. Firefighters currently have no estimate as to when the fire might be contained.

This image comes from Direct Broadcast MODIS data produced by the Ocean Physics and Ecology Laboratory at Oregon State University in collaboration with NASA GSFC