Photos: Calif.'s destructive Kincade Fire seen from space
New images show a ragged crescent of flames about six miles long spewing a vast plume of smoke over Sonoma County
By Mike Moffitt
San Francisco Chronicle
SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. — New images of the Kincade Fire captured by a Sentinel-2 Earth observation satellite show a ragged crescent of flames about six miles long spewing a vast plume of smoke over Sonoma County.
The Sentinel-2 satellite took the image at 12:02 p.m. Sunday, at which time the fire appeared to be about a mile away from the city of Healdsburg and town of Windsor. Both were under a mandatory fire evacuation order.
Aggressive firefighting efforts in the Windsor area especially were successful in slowing the fire, Cal Fire said.
Even so, the blaze grew overnight to 66,231 acres, with 5 percent containment, down from 10 percent on Sunday. Containment dropped due to powerful winds, including gusts that reached hurricane levels in some areas.
Winds were calmer Monday, but another red flag event was expected Tuesday.
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Our #NOAA20 🛰️tracked the very long #smoke plume from the #KincadeFire in #SonomaCounty as the satellite passed over #California yesterday. Strong #winds and dry weather continue to give parts of #CA a #critical or #extreme fire risk today. #CaliforniaFires #CaWx #CAFireWX pic.twitter.com/2n7mfUK9wa
— NOAA Satellites - Public Affairs (@NOAASatellitePA) October 28, 2019
TODAY: NOAA's #GOES17, from 22,300 miles in space, captures the thick smoke plumes streaming from the massive #KincadeFire. @NWS: "Potentially historic fire weather conditions expected in the northern Bay Area."
— NOAA Satellites - Public Affairs (@NOAASatellitePA) October 27, 2019
#CaliforniaFires #CaWx #CAFireWX pic.twitter.com/u4Aqxwhr3k
AFTERNOON UPDATE: NOAA's #GOES17 satellite is tracking the #smoke from both the #KincadeFire in #SonomaCounty and the #GrizzlyFire in #SolanoCounty. A #critical #fire risk continues for parts of #NorthernCalifornia this afternoon. #CaliforniaFires #CaWx #CAFireWX pic.twitter.com/lC8VTiy7qD
— NOAA Satellites - Public Affairs (@NOAASatellitePA) October 28, 2019
And here an animation of @NOAASatellites #GOES17🛰️ images (Oct 27, 15.20 - 18.00 UTC) showing the smoke plume of the ongoing #KincadeFire🔥 in Sonoma County, #California. Data through SLIDER tool by RAMMB/CIRA➡️https://t.co/48lYvVx6GF with some post in PS #RemoteSensing #Wildfire pic.twitter.com/m19BN2WuXI
— Pierre Markuse (@Pierre_Markuse) October 27, 2019