The National Interagency Coordination Center has reported on quite a few forest fires that have broken out in the central United States. Anderson Creek, Bear Creek, Burmac, Crawford, Bug Creek, Bender, Darkwing, Rabbit, Dogga Creek, Walker, Powder Mill, Bar-Dew Lake, Ranchland, and Grassy Top are all fires that have broken out in Oklahoma and Kansas. The largest of these fires is the Anderson Fire which was reported to be over 367,000 acres, but is now currently 95% contained to date. The rest of the named fires range from several hundred acres up to 12,000. The start of the summer fire season is underway as temperatures rise and the weather becomes drier.
NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite collected this natural-color image using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument on April 03, 2016. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, are outlined in red. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Lynn Jenner