The Ferguson fire was quiet overnight but it appears that does not apply to the amount of smoke coming off the fire. When comparing yesterday’s image to today’s, the smoke has extended both south and west now moving past Fresno and Visalia. The cause of the blaze’s origin remains a mystery and is still being investigated.
The fire was quiet overnight but fire activity picked up shortly before dawn. Weather again plays a factor with hot, dry conditions continuing and smoke inversion expected to stay until the afternoon. Heavy rains are expected to come in from the South with thunderstorm activity. While the rains could possibly retard fire activity, lightning strikes and high winds can actually contribute to fire growth. Extreme weather also presents hazards to firefighters as well. The Ferguson fire is now at 17,319 acres and is only 5% contained at present.
This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on July 17, 2018. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, are outlined in red.
NASA image courtesy NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) project. Caption: Lynn Jenner with information from Inciweb.