14 DAY TRIAL // The massive plume of smoke in the picture above was imaged at 20:29 UTC on January 16, 2014, as it was spreading over the eastern Pacific Ocean. The smoke is being released by an active wildifre in the Angeles National Forest of California.
Specialists say that the Colby Fire was ignited along the Colby Truck Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains in northern Los Angeles County on January 16. By yesterday, it had already burned a total of 1,863 acres and 5 homes and had injured one person and led to the evacuation of 3,600 people.
By tomorrow, January 19, the US Forest Service expects the fire to be entirely contained. On Friday, only 30 percent of the flames had been brought under control. In the meantime, the Colby Fire continues to emit massive plumes of smoke that are visible from space.
This particular image was collected via the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite. The spacecraft was launched into space on October 28, 2011, aboard a Delta II delivery system.