MODIS false color images showing the Station Fire burn scar
250-meter resolution MODIS false color images
A sequence of daily 250-meter resolution MODIS false color images from the SSEC MODIS Today site (above; also available as a QuickTime animation) shows the rapidly increasing size of the burn scar associated with the Station Fire north of Los Angeles during the 28 August – 07 September 2009 period. The fire burn scar appears as the large darker red feature (which is seen to grow very quickly to the north and east on 30-31 August), while the hottest actively burning fires appear as smaller clusters of pink to white along the periphery of the burn scar. Thick smoke partially obscured the burn scar area on 01 September, while large pyrocumulus clouds were seen to form over the eastern portion of the fire activity on 02 September.
As of the morning of 08 September, the Station Fire had burned over 160,000 acres, making it the largest fire in Los Angeles County history (and the 9th largest fire in California history).