2023-07-21 16:57:51
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In the early morning of July 15, 2023, a forest fire broke out on La Palma, the most northwestern of the Canary Islands.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of southward-flowing smoke from the fire that afternoon. The luminous areas near the islands to the south of La Palma look like smoke, but are actually the result of an optical phenomenon caused by the reflection of the sun.
The fire burned pine forests to the west of a large caldera in the northern part of the island. At least 20 buildings were destroyed and 4,000 people evacuated their homes, according to the Reuters news agency. On July 16, authorities reported that the fire had charred at least 18 square miles (4,650 hectares).
Heat and strong winds accompanied the intense fires. The same heat wave scorched parts of southern Europe and northern Africa. The Associated Press news agency reported that on July 16, more favorable weather conditions helped firefighters slow down the flames. Satellite images obtained on July 16, 17 and 18 showed much less smoke coming from this fire.
Fires on La Palma are common in the summer due to the dry climate on the island. An analysis of tree rings suggests that intense fires burn the island’s forests about every seven years, on average, with less intense fires breaking out every two to four years.
In addition to fire, volcanic activity can also damage infrastructure and alter the landscape of La Palma. A slow eruption destroyed 1,600 homes on this island in late 2021.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA’s LANCE/EOSDIS and GIBS/Worldview systems. Reporting by Adam Voiland.
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