The MODIS or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of smoke and detected the heat from the Pfeiffer Fire near Big Sur, California on December 16 at 21:05 UTC/4:05 p.m. EST. The red outlined area represents the heat from the fire.
According to Reuters News, the fire has destroyed at least 15 homes and caused many residential evacuations.
The Incident Information System called Inciweb, the U.S. multi-agency firefighting website, reported that the wildfire started around midnight Pacific Standard local time on December 16 in the vicinity of Pfeiffer Ridge in the Monterey Ranger District of Los Padres National Forest. It is in an area of rugged terrain and has already consumed over 500 acres. As of December 17, the fire was zero percent contained. For more updates, visit the Inciweb website: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3761/ .
InciWeb is an interagency all-risk incident information management system. The system was developed with two primary missions: Provide the public a single source of incident related information; and to provide a standardized reporting tool for the Public Affairs community.