Metal recycling center fire in La Crosse, Wisconsin

By Scott Bachmeier • 2 April 2021

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 (GOES-East) Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (above) showed the thermal anomaly (cluster of darker red pixels) associated with a fire at a metal recycling plant in La Crosse, Wisconsin — located at the center of the images — on 02 April 2021. According to media reports, over 100 vehicles were burning at the facility. Farther to the south, a few thermal signatures of prescribed burns were seen in northeastern Iowa.

A brief smoke plume was produced by the recycling center fire, as shown in GOES-16 True Color RGB images (below), which drifted north-northeastward. Smoke plumes from the prescribed burns were also evident.

GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

Time series plot of surface weather conditions at La Crosse Regional Airport [click to enlarge]

Categories: Fire detection, GOES-16, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images