At the start of October 2023, green conifers and golden aspen covered the slopes of Monroe Mountain in Utah’s Fishlake National Forest.
At the start of October 2023, green conifers and golden aspen covered the slopes of Monroe Mountain in Utah’s Fishlake National Forest. Then, starting on October 9, these forests turned black as fire worked its way across the mountain. Flames and smoke were visible for miles.
Unlike wildfires sparked by lightning or accidentally by people, this fire was ignited deliberately with a fire-dripping device suspended from a helicopter. The burn (pictured above), managed by the Richfield Ranger District, aimed to reintroduce fire to the Monroe Mountain region. Fire promotes aspen regeneration and reduces accumulated brush and dead vegetation that could fuel a larger uncontrolled fire.
The managed, or “prescribed” burn also provided an opportunity for researchers to closely examine a high-intensity fire. Dozens of scientists from the Forest Service and other organizations and universities collected data from the ground and from the sky as part of FASMEE, the Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment. Scientists with NASA’s FireSense project participated, too, collecting data that could ultimately aid wildland fire managers in the future.
Read More: NASA Earth Observatory
Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
