MSGID: 1:317/3 63e291ca   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   February 7, 2023 - Massive and Deadly Wildfire Outbreak in Chile   
      
      Wildfires   
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      A ferocious outbreak of wildfires has ravaged central Chile since early   
      February 2023, leaving more than 23 people dead as flames continued to   
      spread across the region.   
      
      On February 2, Chile declared a state of emergency as wildfires burned   
      in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío, with La Auricanía and Maule added   
      to the emergency declaration as flames continued to expand. As of   
      February 4, the country’s disaster mitigation agency estimated 232   
      fires were actively burning, and 149 additional fires had been brought   
      under control.   
      
      On February 6, more than 286,299 hectares had been burnt, according to   
      ReliefWeb. That’s an area larger than the country of Costa Rica. That   
      same evening, Chile Today reported that an estimated 1,000 people had   
      been injured and more than 1,800 had been forced to flee their homes.   
      One Chilean firefighter lost her life over the weekend when the   
      helicopter she was serving on crashed while fighting the blazes.   
      
      The world has responded to the extreme fire emergency in Chile, with   
      the United States, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, and Portugal all   
      sending equipment, firefighters, or both in answer to President’s Boric   
      request for aid. Unfortunately, as of the evening of February 6,   
      satellite imagery does not yet show the fires retreating.   
      
      The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board   
      NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of Chile’s wildfire   
      outbreak on February 4. Each red mark indicates an area where the   
      thermal bands on the MODIS instrument detected high temperatures which,   
      in this case, signify actively burning fires. Copious gray smoke rises   
      from the flames, blanketing the region under a thick layer of smoke and   
      particulate matter. To the west, a heavy tan shroud lies over or mixes   
      in with a layer of cloud over the Pacific Ocean. While the color is   
      more typical of dust than smoke, satellite imagery over consecutive   
      days strongly suggests that it is most likely smoke from these   
      wildfires. The tan cloud stretches more than 745 miles (1,200 km) over   
      the ocean from the Chilean coastline.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Aqua   
      Date Acquired: 2/4/2023   
      Resolutions:  1km (426.8 KB),  500m (1.4 MB),  250m ( B)   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-02-07   
       
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