According to the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles, "A fast-moving, wind-driven brush fire in Riverside County was 40 percent contained as of early Thursday morning, CAL Fire officials said. The Summit Fire broke out around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday near North San Gorgonio Road and Summit Drive in Banning. Crews fought the nearly 3,000-acre fire overnight and were aided by diminished winds that allowed them to lay containment lines around the blaze."
Over 400 firefighters have been involved in trying to quell the blaze since it began yesterday and several communities have been evacuated. One home was destroyed by the fire.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory for the area due to potentially unhealthy air quality levels.
This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on May 01, 2013. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red.
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Lynn Jenner.