Impassable One Fire Burns in Florida

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) captured this image of the Impassable One fire as swept through 38,000 acres of timber and swamp land in the Osceola National Forest in northeast Florida. The fire began as a prescribed burn on March 2, but slipped out of control, growing under windy conditions on March 6 and 7. On March 9, about 30 families in Taylor, Florida were forced to evacuate briefly before rains staunched the fire’s progress. As of March 10, 38,000 acres had burned, and the fire was 20 percent contained.
This MODIS image, captured by the Aqua satellite on March 9, 2004, shows a plume of smoke rising from the fire, which is marked in red. The high-resolution image posted above is at MODIS maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The image is available in additional resolutions. The state is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida. Florida is the 22nd-most extensive (65,755 sq mi or 170,300 km2), the 3rd-most populous (21,312,211 inhabitants),and the 8th-most densely populated (384.3/sq mi or 148.4/km2) of the U.S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. The Miami metropolitan area is Florida’s most populous urban area. Tallahassee is the state’s capital.

Credit: Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC