Record Wildfire in Texas (Image of the Week)

The Smokehouse Creek Fire started about 1 mile north of Stinnett, Texas on February 26th, 2024. Three days later, the fire had consumed over 1 million acres. With a total area of 1,654 square miles, it became the largest fire on record in Texas. That's larger than New York's Long Island.

A series of false color images reveal the land cover before, during, and after the fire.

February 24th, 2 days before the fire.

March 3rd, 6 days after.

March 19th, 22 days after ignition and 3 days after containment.

Additional imagery through April and May show the burn scar fading as the region turns green.

A mathematical formula known as Normalized Burn Ratio uses Landsat's infrared bands to illustrate burn severity over the same dates. Dark orange areas indicate higher severity.

Communities and scientists rely on Landsat data to track and study wildfires around the world.

Learn more at eros.usgs.gov/image-of-the-week.