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PHOTO: Satellite Image Of Waldo Canyon Fire Burn Scar

Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon
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NASA Earth Observatory image

The Waldo Canyon Fire is the most destructive wildfire in the history of Colorado. 347 homes were lost since the blaze started on June 23rd.

Now that the fire is expected to be fully contained tomorrow, the NASA Earth Observatory just tweeted out this picture of the burn scar. The brilliant red of the image is a false color in order to highlight the burn scar and the areas that are still covered in vegetation and unburned.

From the NASA Earth Observatory:

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on the Terra satellite acquired this view of the fire’s burn scar on July 4, 2012, when the fire was still burning but was 90 percent contained. Vegetation-covered land is red in the false-color image, which includes both visible and infrared light. Patches of unburned forest are bright red, in contrast with areas where flecks of light brown indicate some burning. The darkest brown areas burned the most severely. Constructed surfaces, such as buildings and roads, appear light gray and white. The bright red patches of vegetation near Colorado Springs are likely golf courses, parks, or other irrigated land.

H/T to @NASA_EO on Twitter. Source

I’m not a Colorado native (did you know that "I'm from Missouri" means "I'm skeptical of the matter and not easily convinced?") but I have lived here for most of my life and couldn't imagine leaving. After graduating from Colorado State University, I did what everyone wants to do; I moved to the mountains and skied, hiked, and hid from responsibility! Our listeners in the mountains may know me from my time in Steamboat Springs and Vail or as the voice of the Battle Mountain Huskies Hockey team in Vail.
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