image: The bushfires currently wreaking havoc in New South Wales, Australia have begun due to what has been described as the "worst conditions for fire in the state's history." Over 80 bushfires are being fought by rural firefighters in the Australian state of New South Wales. With temperatures in the north of the state soaring to over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and combining with strong winds and dry conditions, the Rural Fire Service is categorizing these conditions as catastrophic.
Five of the 80 fires ongoing have included emergency warnings for local residents. The biggest blaze has been near the town of Dunedoo seen in this satellite image taken by the Aqua satellite in the central west of the state. Dunedoo is located 217 miles (350 kms) northwest of Sydney and north of the Golden Highway. The Dunedoo fire is burning in the area of Leadville, Coolah and Cassilis and has burned approximately 52,000 hectares (200 sq. miles). Firefighers are reporting it as being controlled. Heavy plumes of grayish, brown smoke rise above the blaze in this image which was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite on February 12, 2017. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red. Emergency services and support agencies will continue to assess affected roads in the area and remove a significant numbers of fallen trees.
Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Lynn Jenner