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Fast-moving Sharpe Fire prompts the issuance of an Evacuation Immediate order in southeast Colorado

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute GOES-19 0.64 µm Visible images with an overlay of the Fire Mask (left) and 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared images (right), from 1701 UTC on 17 May to 0100 UTC on 18 May [click to play MP4 animation]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-19 (GOES-East) Visible images (with/without an overlay of the FDCA Fire Mask derived product) and Shortwave Infrared images (above) showed the thermal anomaly associated with a fast-moving grass fire (the Sharpe Fire) that moved northeastward across the Oklahoma border into Baca County in far southeastern Colorado on 17 May 2026 — prompting the issuance of an Evacuation Immediate order for southern Baca County residents in the vicinity of Campo at 2045 UTC. RAWS sites upstream of and near the fire recorded southwesterly wind gusts as high as 45-47 mph.

This grass fire burned very hot, and at 2017 UTC it first exhibited a 3.9 µm shortwave infrared brightness temperature of 137.77ºC (below) — which is the saturation temperature of GOES-19 ABI Band 7 detectors.

GOES-19 0.64 µm Visible + Fire Mask image (left) and 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared image (right) at 2017 UTC on 17 May, with a cursor sample of the saturated Shortwave Infrared brightness temperature [click to enlarge]

1-minute GOES-19 GeoColor RGB images with Next Generation Fire System (NGFS) Fire Detection polygons (below) also showed the rapid northeastward spread of the wind-driven fire’s thermal signature. The surface observation site near Campo, Colorado recorded relative humidity (green) values as low as 4%, and southwesterly wind gusts (red) as high as 45 mph. Note how the wind direction at area observation sites fluctuated from a more northerly-northeasterly direction early in the day to southwesterly later in the day, as a segment of a quasi-stationary frontal boundary briefly surged northward (surface analyses).

1-minute GOES-19 GeoColor RGB images with an overlay of NGFS Fire Detection polygons and Surface Observations, from 1600 UTC on 17 May to 0100 UTC on 18 May [click to play MP4 animation]

Categories: Fire detection, GOES-19, NGFS, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images