NASA: USA - It is happening now - Está sucediendo ahora - Bushfires in the Blue Mountains - Bell - Mt. Wilson - Mt. Victoria - 10.29.13

acquired October 26, 2013 download large image (4 MB, JPEG, 4048x4048)

acquired October 26, 2013 download GeoTIFF file (34 MB, TIFF)

acquired October 26, 2013 download large image (2 MB, JPEG, 1350x1350)

acquired October 26, 2013 download GeoTIFF file (5 MB, TIFF) 

In early September, the Bushfire Cooperative Research Center released a report pointing out that large swaths of New South Wales faced an unusually high risk of fire during the 2013–2014 bushfire season. Abundant rain over the last three summers had left extra grass and vegetation in many areas. Unusually high temperatures since July 2013 had also dried out forests, priming them to burn.

September proved to be the hottest on record in Australia, with most parts of New South Wales experiencing temperatures between 3 to 6 degrees Celsius (5 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit) above average. This got the fire season off to an early start, with large numbers of fires breaking out on September 10. Numerous small fires burned on and off in the Blue Mountains throughout September and early October.

By mid-October, the situation had worsened significantly, with more than 100 fires burning at times. On October 16, Australian military forces accidentally triggered the State Mine fire during a training exercise that involved live explosives, and it quickly became the largest of all the fires burning in the region. About two weeks after it started, the fire had charred more than 52,813 hectares (130,514 acres).

The Advanced Land Imager on the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite acquired these images of the fire and part of its burn scar on October 26, 2013. In the natural-color image (top) the burn scar appears brown. (Download the large image to see the full size of the burn scar.) While firefighters had the blaze largely under control when EO-1 passed over, flames were still actively burning in some areas. Smoke was visible drifting east. In the false-color image (bottom), unburned vegetation appears green, while unburned areas are red. Actively burning fires are orange.

Firefighters were able to protect homes in Mount Wilson, Mount Victoria, and Bell from damage, but other communities were not as fortunate. Fires destroyed 193 homes and damaged 109 in Springwood, according to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. Victoria, Lithgow, Wyong, and Balmoral also lost homes.

1. References and Related Reading

2. Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (2013, September 2) Southern Australia Seasonal Bushfire Outlook 2013–2014. Accessed October 28, 2013.
3. Climate Central (2013, October 23) Australia’s Bushfires and the Role of Climate Change. Accessed October 28, 2013.
4. Climate Central (2013, October 3) Australia Has its Hottest September as Fire Threat Grows. Accessed October 28, 2013.
5. The Guardian (2013, October 24) Bushfires ease, giving New South Wales firefighters the upper hand. Accessed October 28, 2013.
6. New South Wales Rural Fire Service (2013, October 25) Current fires and incidents. Accessed October 28, 2013.
7. New South Wales Rural Fire Service (2013, October 25) Major Fire Updates. Accessed October 28, 2013.
8. The Australian (2013, October 24) Defence caused State Mine fire. Accessed October 28, 2013.
9. The Australian (2013, October 27) Firefighters gain upper hand as weather eases NSW fires threat. Accessed October 28, 2013.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team. Caption by Adam Voiland.

Instrument: 

EO-1 - ALI

NASA: USA - It is happening now - Está sucediendo ahora - Bushfires in the Blue Mountains - Bell - Mt. Wilson - Mt. Victoria - 10.29.13

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