As the Rodeo/Chedeski fire in Arizona slowly comes under control,additional fires are springing up in the Rocky Mountain states. TheGrizzly Gulch fire (right) is near the town of Deadwood, South Dakota,in the Black Hills. Officials have evacuated Deadwood and neighboringcommunities. The Pownell and Daley complex fires are burning innearby Wyoming (left) and the Line Creek fire is just above thosein Montana.
So far this year, 2,817,641 acres have burned in the U.S., more thantwice the ten-year average of 1,102,452 acres for the months of Januarythrough June. By July 1st of 2000, a record-breaking fire year, only1,712,945 acres had burned. The rainy monsoon season is likely to beginsoon in the southwest, where the largest fires have been, but the fireseason further north peaks later in the summer.
This image was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometeron June 30, 2002.
References & Resources
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
