The Rices Fire

The Rices Fire started on June 28th, 2022 in Northern California near the Yuba River in Nevada County. The fire has burned over 900 acres and has destroyed one structure. French Corral, Birchville, and other communities were evacuated, but orders have since been lifted. There have been some firefighter injuries reported, but not casualties. The fire was captured in an ECOSTRESS Land Surface image on June 29 at 09:09 AM PDT and shows the temperatures surpassing 130 degrees Fahrenheit. ECOSTRESS is a thermal instrument on the International Space Station that measures the temperature of the ground, which is hotter than the air temperature during the day. It was launched to the space station in 2018. Its primary mission is to identify critical thresholds of water use and water stress in plants and to detect the timing, location, and predictive factors leading to plant water uptake decline and/or cessation. The nature of the high-resolution data provided by ECOSTRESS allows it to record heat related phenomena such as heat waves and wildfires. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25485