Huge, smoky fires continued to burn throughout east-central Alaska on June 24, 2004. Most of the blazes were triggered by lightning around June 14 and 15, when a record-breaking 8,500 strikes reportedly hit the state in just 24 hours. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite shows the region alight with fires that are billowing large amounts of smoke, which hangs over the Yukon Territory, Canada, at image right. Areas where MODIS detected active fires are outlined in red. At the top of the scene are the Pingo (top) and Winter Trail (to the southeast) Fires, each of which was more than 50,000 acres as of June 24. Along the Tanana River in the lower part of the scene, the Billy Creek Fire (to the south of image center) is creating a massive smoke plume. To the southeast of the Billy Creek Fire, the Porcupine Fire is giving off a smaller, but nonetheless impressive column of smoke.
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Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
