California wildfires spewing so much smoke, they're visible from space

NASA satellite images show smoke spewing from a wildfire in Santa Barbara County on June 9, 2017. NASA satellite images show smoke spewing from a wildfire in Santa Barbara County on June 9, 2017. Photo: NASA Photo: NASA Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close California wildfires spewing so much smoke, they're visible from space 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

A series of wildfires that erupted across California this month are so massive, they're visible from space.

Fourteen fires are simmering throughout the state, with the largest, the Alamo Fire, burning near Santa Maria in San Luis Obispo County. Since the fire broke out on Thursday, it has consumed more than 28,000 acres of land and destroyed one structure, according to CalFire's Statewide Fire Map. At least 3,500 people remain evacuated from their homes due to the Alamo Fire as well as the Whittier Fire near Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County.

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The devastation can be hard to comprehend with facts and figures, but satellite imagery captured by NASA shows just how massive the wildfires really are – even from space.

In an image taken by the Terra satellite on Sunday afternoon (see first photo in above gallery), smoke from at least four Southern California wildfires billows northward and trickles southeast over the Pacific Ocean. The second image in the gallery shows how far the finger of smoke reaches into the waters off the coast of Mexico.

As of Tuesday, the Alamo and Whittier fires are 45-percent and 95-percent contained, respectively. According to Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni, whose department is fighting the two fires, heavy winter rains are likely to blame for the fierceness of this season's flames.

"What the heavy rains have done is created a grass crop that we haven't seen in forever," he said. "That creates faster moving fires, hotter fires, it carries fire much more readily."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Read Michelle Robertson’s latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.



