California's Caldor Fire seen from space in harrowing satellite images (gallery)
Caldor Fire nears Lake Tahoe
The Caldor Fire, one of the largest in California's history, has been blazing in El Dorado County since Aug. 14, 2021.
It has since burned more than 200,000 acres of land and is now progressing toward the border of Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. See satellite images of the growing fire in this Space.com gallery.
The image above, captured Aug. 30 by NASA's Aqua satellite, shows smoke from the Caldor Fire encroaching on the southern portion of Lake Tahoe.
Related: Record temperatures, fire clouds and drought ravage Earth in 2021
Caldor Fire on Aug. 30
NOAA's GOES 17 satellite captured this image of the raging Caldor Fire on Aug. 30, 2021. The Caldor Fire had scorched nearly 200,000 acres of forest and land as of Aug. 31, 2021. Residents of towns near South Lake Tahoe were evacuated as the blaze spread.
Full story: Satellite tracks vicious Caldor Fire spread in California in time-lapse video
The Dixie Fire is still burning, too.
Meanwhile, as the Caldor Fire has taken the spotlight, another fire is raging in Northern California. The second-largest Californian fire on record — the Dixie Fire —continues to burn has burned over 800,000 acres since July 13, 2021. This image from NASA's Landsat 8 satellite shows smoke from the Dixie Fire on Aug. 28, 2021, blanketing the region north of the Caldor Fire.
Related: Satellite photos show Dixie Fire's devastation to California town in before-and-after views
More fires blaze to the north
Air quality across the western United States is posing risks to people due to the Caldor, Dixie and other fires. In this image, captured Aug. 29 by the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite, nine fires are seen burning across multiple western states.
Related: North America is surrounded by 4 storms and wildfire smoke in this satellite view
Caldor Fire on Aug. 24
The Caldor Fire, burning just south of Lake Tahoe, broke out on Aug. 14, 2021, and was only 20% contained as of Sept. 1. This image was processed by citizen scientist Pierre Markuse using data aquired by the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel mission on Aug. 24, 2021.
