From the ground, the scenes of California’s wildfires are terrifying, but looking down from high above reveals the massive and horrific scale of the blazes. The International Space Station and weather and Earth-observing satellites have detected their massive smoke plumes and, in some cases, their flames.
Most available space-based imagery shows the Kincade Fire, which has been dominating headlines since last Thursday when it broke out in the foothills of Sonoma County, Calif. Fanned by winds gusting over 90 mph at times and humidity plummeting to desert-like dryness, the inferno grew rapidly, now having scorched more than 75,000 acres.
By Sunday, the blaze was expanding at the average rate of 32 football fields per minute, blasting south and east and swallowing an area half the size of Washington, D.C., in just 12 hours.

From @Space_Station I was able to catch these pictures of the California wildfires burning north of the Bay Area. Thinking of the people who have lost their homes and the brave first responders on the front lines protecting them. pic.twitter.com/islV3DP5yM

— Andrew Morgan (@AstroDrewMorgan) October 30, 2019