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Those California Wildfires Viewed From Space

An image shot by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on Wednesday. It shows multiple wildfires in Calif. trailing smoke into the Pacific Ocean.
Lynn Jenner
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NASA/Goddard
An image shot by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on Wednesday. It shows multiple wildfires in Calif. trailing smoke into the Pacific Ocean.

Multiple wildfires in California, fueled by strong Santa Ana winds and scorching temperatures, are so massive that they can easily be seen from space.

As NPR's Alan Greenblatt reports, the fires have affected thousands of acres and put lives and property in jeopardy.

"California fire officials were hoping that a break in the winds would aid their push to beat back the blaze, which started near the campus of Cal State University, San Marcos and continues to burn largely out of control."

About the striking space photo, NASA says:

"This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on May 14, 2014. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Neuman is a reporter and editor, working mainly on breaking news for NPR's digital and radio platforms.