File:Burn Scar, Mendocino Fire (MODIS 2018-08-15).jpg

English: Southern California’s wildfire season has been heating up in recent years - a result of several factors, including a long-standing drought and warming temperatures. While the drought has eased in many locations, it has led to dead, dying, dry, and non-fire resilient vegetation which can roar to life by the smallest spark (or lightning strike). Once ignited, conditions are ripe for rapid fire spread.

The 2018 fire season gone into the record books as a very intense and destructive year. On August 12 the Mendocino Complex fire captured the title of the largest wildfire in California’s history. The Mendocino Complex is actually two fires burning close to each other and being managed as a single fire. The Ranch and River Fires each began on July 27 from unknown causes. The Ranch Fire began north of Ukiah and the River Fire ignited north of Hopeland, southwest of the Ranch Fire. By August 14, the Ranch Fire had scorched 305,490 acres and was 68% contained while the River Fire had consumed 48,920 acres and had reached 100% containment, for a total acreage of 349,890 acres. The Mendocino Complex has destroyed 146 residences, 119 other structures, and has killed 2 firefighters and 1 civilian. An additional 36 structures were damaged, with 1,025 additional structures threatened.

On August 13, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-color image of the burn scar of the Mendocino Complex. The image is made from a combination of visible and infrared light to make burned areas (brick red) stand out from unburned vegetation (bright green). Desert or semi-arid landscapes are beige, dense urban areas are gray, and water is dark blue. Warm smoke appears electric blue while hot, actively burning areas appear orange.

The two burn scars of the Mendocino Complex are easily visible near Clear Lake. The River Fire sits to the southwest of the lake while the much larger Ranch Fire sits to the northeast. Smoke rises from the Ranch Fire and the northeastern perimeter appears to be actively burning. An additional fresh burn scar can be seen in the southeastern section of the image, northeast of Lake Berryessa. This is the location of the Steele Fire which burned from July 28 through August 2.

A number of older burn scars can be seen in this region, which has hosted many fires in the last fifteen years. As vegetation reclaims burned areas, the color lightens. The scars from recent year are lighter brick red than current-year scars while the oldest visible scars appear light pink.