Space photos show fires tormenting bone-dry California

Triple-digit temperatures and parched land have left much of California’s expansive forests vulnerable to any spark or flame.

The Carr Fire, which started on July 23 after a vehicle caught fire, has spread to nearly 100,000 acres as of July 30. From hundreds of miles above, satellite images show a state besieged by an imposing plume of smoke, with a vast part of the region blanketed in a thick, brown haze. 

Vegetation in the drought-ridden terrain around the City of Redding, where the Carr Fire has prompted thousands to flee and has taken at least six lives, is now exceptionally dry.  Read more…

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