Georgia Fire Still Burning Strong (IMAGE)
Caption
According to reports on Inciweb: "The West Mims Fire on the Georgia/Florida line continued an aggressive push to the south ahead of gusty northwest winds on Sunday, May 7, 2017. At of 4:30 pm the fire was estimated at 130,942 acres. The fire breached the line today burning through boggy areas along Blitch Creek toward Highway 94. Eight heavy helicopters and four large air tankers worked continuously from 8am until sunset. Contingency resources were called in to work the south side of the fire because of active burning there. Billys Island continued to burn today but posed no threat to containment lines.
Tonight the winds will be light on the fire. Tomorrow's weather will be dry and hot. Winds will be down a bit with northwest gusts around 20 mph. While wind speeds will be lower tonight and tomorrow, temperatures will go up. There will be a high near 91, and relative humidity will be down near 18 percent. Fire behavior, which has been extremely active today, will continue at an elevated level tomorrow. The probability of ignition in dry fuels hit with hot embers will be close to 100 percent. Spotting and reburning will be likely again tomorrow. In fact, many areas are experiencing reburns, some of which are threatening containment lines. Drought conditions remain acute."
Fire officials are still predicting that full containment of this fire will not be until Nov. 1. Current containment is at 12 percent. A total of 624 personnel are fighting this fire.
NASA's Suomi NPP satellite collected this natural-color image using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument on May 6, 2017. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red.
Suomi NPP is managed by NASA and NOAA.
Credit
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Lynn Jenner with information from Inciweb.
Usage Restrictions
None
License
Licensed content