Fire season in northern Australia usually wraps up by October, but 2011 has been an exceptional year. In mid-November, dry grasses and low humidity combined to create extremely dangerous fire conditions, prompting the Queensland Fire and Rescue service to issue a warning. Because of the ongoing high fire danger, residents are not permitted to start a fire without a permit until January 1, 2012. Despite such precautions, several large fires burned throughout the state, said ABC News on November 17. Some of the fires were ignited by lightning.
This true color image shows multiple fires, large and small, burning in northeast Queensland. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image on November 15, 2011. The fires are outlined in red.
References & Resources
- CSIRO. (2008, February 14). Bushfire in Australia. Accessed November 17, 2011.
- CSIRO. (2008, April 30). The months of the fire season. Accessed November 17, 2011.
- Queensland Fire and Rescue Service. (2011, November 16). North coast residents warned of heightened fire danger. Queensland Government. Accessed November 17, 2011.
- Rego, F. (2011, November 17). Big outback grassfire under control. ABC News. Accessed November 17, 2011.
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek.
