image: Fire authorities in Arizona continue to battle two of the largest fires in the country. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag warning for June 16 and 17 due to anticipated strong winds that might challenge the containment line at the Wallow North fire. The Wallow North fire is now 30 percent contained and Horseshoe Two fire 60 percent contained, according to InciWeb. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite acquired this image of the fires on June 15, 2011 at 20:30 UTC (4:30 p.m. EDT). Active fire areas appear as red dots, and smoke rises from the most intensely burning areas. The Wallow fire has destroyed 32 homes and four rental cabins, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile the US Forest Service's Incident Information System reports residents in the Whitetail community, near the Horseshoe Two fire, were allowed to return their homes on June 15. view more
Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Melissa Quijada