Wyoming’s Roosevelt Fire was reported to officials by hunters in the area on Saturday, September 15, 2018. Red Flag conditions with high winds and low humidity caused the fire to quickly grow. This fire is burning in dense timber, steep rugged terrain.
The Roosevelt Fire is located 32 miles south of Jackson, Wyoming. At present the fire is 31,681 acres in size and is still growing. The fire is burning actively with growth at the head and flanks. It was also exhibiting backing and interior burnouts. The wind conditions that arose in the late morning and afternoon triggered single tree and group tree torching with occasional runs across tree tops. Advanced spread rates and flame lengths were witnessed by fire officials.
There continues to be the risk of high rates of growth due to the low relative humidity and high winds in the area. That is expected to continue through the next 48 to 72 hours when forecasters expect winds to dissipate, the temperature to drop and relative humidity to rise which will staunch the fire’s growth and spread potential.
NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks “right now. This satellite image was collected on September 20, 2018. Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points. Image Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Caption: Lynn Jenner with information from Inciweb.