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Lake Christine Fire in Colorado Continues to Grow

Suomi NPP image of Lake Christine fire
The Lake Christine Fire grew to 8,315 acres as of Friday morning. Fire behavior was active on Thursday, with fire growth primarily occurring on top of Basalt Mountain.

The Lake Christine Fire which is northwest of Aspen, CO, and one mile northwest of Basalt, CO, grew to 8,315 acres as of Friday morning. Fire behavior was active on Thursday, with fire growth primarily occurring on top of Basalt Mountain. This triggered a new round of pre-evacuation notices. With warm and dry conditions expected to continue Friday and temperatures reaching the low 90s with low humidity all the pieces are in place for the fire to continue to grow. A small chance of thunderstorms on Saturdy brings the likelihood of strong winds with a 20% chance of rain over the fire, but storms can also bring more lightning strikes. In addition, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has issued an air quality health advisory for the Lake Christine fire area. Heavy smoke in the area could affect those with respiratory issues, the elderly, and the young.

The Suomi NPP satellite’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument captured this image of the Lake Christine fire on July 19, 2018. Actively burning areas (hot spots), detected by thermal bands, are outlined in red. Each hot spot is an area where the thermal detectors recognized temperatures higher than background. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for fire. NASA image courtesy of the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) project. Caption by Lynn Jenner with information from Inciweb. The Suomi NPP satellite is a joint mission between NASA, NOAA and the U.S. Department of Defense.