Flames. Credit: Leo Lintang

Large wildfire in Chile

13 April 2014 01:55 UTC

Flames. Credit: Leo Lintang
Flames. Credit: Leo Lintang
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Region

Chile

Satellites

Metop-A and B

Channels/Products

Infrared Channel, Visible Channel, MODIS

A forest fire ravaged urban areas of Valparaiso, Chile, destroying hundreds of homes and killing at least 16.

Last Updated

04 May 2023

Published on

13 April 2014

The fire was so intense that a big hot spot (coloured yellow, around 340K) could be seen in the Metop-A infrared at 01:55 UTC. Twelve hours later the Metop-B enhanced visible clearly showed a long smoke plume along the Chilean coast — around 560km in length.

More than 10,000 people had to be evacuated when the forest fire spread into the city. It was reportedly the worst fire the city has experienced for more than 60 years.

Metop-A, 13 April 2014, 01:55 UTC
Figure 1: Metop-A Channel IR3.7, 13 April 01:55 UTC
Metop-B, 13 April 2014, 14:10 UTC
Figure 2: Metop-B Channel VIS0.63, 13 April 14:10 UTC
 

Additional content

MODIS image showing the smoke plume , NASA Worldview
Wildfire Burns Valparaiso, Chile, NASA Earth Observatory
Fatal wildfire in Valparaiso, Chile, CIMSS Blog
New York Daily News story

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