Wildfires are sweeping across Bolivia due to hot, dry weather and available tinder fuels. Officials are saying this is the worst wildfire season in 10 years. A state of emergency has been declared and nearly 25,000 drought-fueled wildfires are currently burning across Bolivia. The fires have shut down flights and are threatening some national parks as well such as the Tunari National Park in Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. Local residents have begun to assist firefighters in battling the blazes. Wind has played a detrimental part in the spread of these wildfires.
This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on August 23,2016. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, are outlined in red. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner