This morning a wildfire started in southern California, and one of our satellites captured an image of the blaze just 10 minutes after it was reported. Thankfully, the Sabina forest fire is estimated to be fully contained by tomorrow morning.

Visible smoke and flame from the Sabina wildfire in Riverside County. Image optimized for the web.

From the photo, you can see the fire’s size, the path it had burned through, the wind direction, and of course its exact location. This timely and accurate information is essential for wildfire teams in safely containing a blaze. The Planet Labs constellation is always on so we captured this photo without any knowledge of the fire’s existence. This is exactly the kind of occurrence that will become more and more common as we grow our constellation.