Park Fire rages across California in dramatic satellite video

News
By
published

As the fire continues to rage, satellites overhead are watching the flames and smoke erupt upward.

The second-largest wildfire of 2024 continues to rage in northern California, and satellites are watching the destruction unfold.

The Park Fire wildfire is currently burning north of Sacramento and has already consumed more than 560 square miles (1,455 square kilometers), an area larger than the city of Los Angeles. It is already the largest wildfire California has experienced this year. As of July 29, the fire was only 12% contained, according to InciWeb, a wildfire information service operated by the U.S. National Interagency Fire Center.

As the fire continues to rage, satellites overhead are watching the flames and smoke erupt upward. Spacecraft operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) captured startling imagery on July 26 and 27, showing dense plumes of smoke rise from the flames and drift northeast across the western United States. 

The Park Fire is believed to have started when a burning car was pushed into a gully at a municipal park in Chico, California. The individual responsible has been arrested, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

High winds, heat and dry conditions allowed the fire to spread within days, burning over 368,256 acres (149,028 hectares), according to InciWeb.

The Park Fire burns on July 27, 2024 as seen by NOAA's GOES-18 satellite. (Image credit: CSU/CIRA & NOAA)
RELATED STORIES:

— Powerful wildfires devastating Canada captured in satellite imagery

— U.S. government awards NOAA millions for wildfire response research 

 — Wildfire smoke is warming the planet more than previously thought, scientists say

Over 100 wildfires are currently burning across the United States. Another massive wildfire is currently burning near Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, forcing thousands to evacuate. 

As Earth's climate continues to change, scientists predict that wildfires will become more prevalent and more destructive. A NOAA-funded study published in 2021 found that human-caused climate change is the main driver behind increased wildfires in the western United States. 

A previous NASA study found that smoke from these wildfires is warming the planet more than previously thought, by releasing dense carbon particulates into the atmosphere.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Brett Tingley
Brett Tingley
Managing Editor, Space.com

Brett is curious about emerging aerospace technologies, alternative launch concepts, military space developments and uncrewed aircraft systems. Brett's work has appeared on Scientific American, The War Zone, Popular Science, the History Channel, Science Discovery and more. Brett has English degrees from Clemson University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In his free time, Brett enjoys skywatching throughout the dark skies of the Appalachian mountains.

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • orsobubu
    i'm always scared by forest industrialization in u.s.; seen from satellites, california forests, from north of yosemite to the oregon border, are almost a seamless continuity of patches carved in the mountains' wooded slopes. I wonder why americans use so much timber; here in europe, you never see these devastations and i dont think that we feel the lack of it.
    Reply
  • billslugg
    The US has 4% of the world's population and produces 26% of the world's goods and services. That's why we use so much wood.
    Reply
  • Classical Motion
    That is a whopper of a fire. Forest fires, large prairie fires, much larger than any today, floods, droughts, tornadoes and hurricanes have always modeled this continent. Since and before the ice age. It comes with the territory. It should be the first sentence on every deed. First attempts to survive here failed. Too hot. Too cold. Too wet. Too dry. Forest too thick. Ridge too high. Rivers too wide. Streams too deep.

    It’s a hideous place. We had to light the forest just to get thru it.

    You ought to see the bugs. And the snakes.
    Reply
  • billslugg
    Mankind has no business putting out fires in nature. They are essential in virtually every ecosystem. Firefighters should concentrate on structures.
    Reply
  • orsobubu
    billslugg said:
    The US has 4% of the world's population and produces 26% of the world's goods and services. That's why we use so much wood.
    yes but i found that most of wood usage is internal (or perhaps it was intended that the raw material is used internally, and then a large quantity of transformed goods are exported??). Anyway, here tv shows of reconstruction of u.s. houses are popular, and you can see that 99% of the projects are built with wood. Here maybe 1% of houses are built in wood. Perhaps this also explains the difference.
    Reply
  • billslugg
    The US does wood framing in houses and small buildings. Metal studs have not taken over. I just saw a 100 unit two story hotel go up with a wooden frame. Took them about a month to get it sheathed in. It was not modular, stick by stick.
    Reply