October 25, 2020 - East Troublesome Fire

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   East Troublesome Fire
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   The East Troublesome Fire burst into the record books on October 22,
   2020 as it grew sixfold in size in just a day to seize the title of the
   second-largest fire in Colorado History. The expanding blaze jumped the
   Continental Divide as it ran from Grand County into Rocky Mountain
   National Park, destroying structures and forcing evacuations as it
   spread.

   The fire sparked to life on the evening of October 14 north of Hot
   Sulfur Springs, Colorado. It is burning in grass, sage, and lodgepole
   pine that has been parched due to a state-wide drought. Many areas of
   pine have been previously killed by infestation of Mountain pine
   beetles, an insect native to Western pine forests that feed by boring
   into trees, causing rust-colored needles, needle-drop, and death of the
   tree. The standing trees and deadfall become excellent fuel to feed
   fires.

   The East Troublesome Fire had grown slowly at first, staying under
   20,000 acres until the evening of October 21, when high winds began to
   blow. Extreme winds of up to 70 mph (122 km/h) fed explosive and
   dangerous growth. As of 9:52 a.m. on October 24, the fire had consumed
   188,389 acres, according to Inciweb Incident Information System.
   Unofficial estimates reported by local media suggest that the fire
   closed the day at about 191,000 acres and has closely approached the
   town of Estes Park. The blaze is only 4 percent contained.

   While winds continued to howl through Saturday, October 24, the
   forecast for Sunday, October 25 highlights snow. Snowfall is expected
   to begin around 11:00 p.m. on Saturday with estimates between 4 and 6
   inches (10-15 cm) of snow within 24 hours. A Winter Storm Warning will
   be in effect beginning at midnight on Saturday. Snowy weather brings
   the hope of reduced wind and reduced fire spread.

   On October 22, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a stunning false-color
   image of the East Troublesome Fire. This type of image uses infrared
   and visible light (MODIS bands 7,2,1) to help separate burn scars from
   vegetation. In this combination, vegetation is bright green, open land
   appears tan, cloud appears white tinted with light blue. Fresh burn
   scars, left behind as fire chars the vegetation, appear brick red and
   orange.

   Copious smoke pours from the East Troublesome Fire, appearing red near
   the burn scar, and electric blue as it rises and cools. High in the
   atmosphere, dark tan ash from the fire colors the plume and appears to
   mix with cloud. Several burn scars from additional fires can be seen in
   the vegetation near the East Troublesome Fire.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 10/22/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (132.5 KB),  500m (132.5 KB),  250m (401 KB)
   Bands Used: 7,2,1
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2020-10-25
 
