Fire That ‘Exploded in Size’ Seen From Space

Recent satellite imagery shows how the House Draw Fire in Johnson County, Wyoming, “exploded in size” in less than 24 hours.
The House Draw Fire ignited after a lightning strike on Wednesday and has since grown to at least 163,000 acres. Containment is at 0 percent, according to the Department of Emergency Management in Johnson County, and much of Wyoming remains under fire-related weather warnings and watches, the National Weather Service (NWS) reported.
On Thursday, social media posts showed the fire’s large impact, which was big enough to see from space.
“The House Draw fire in northeastern Wyoming exploded in size overnight. The burn scar from the fire can be seen in the morning light,” the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) posted on X, formerly Twitter, with a satellite timelapse showing the impact.
“Before & After: Weather satellite imagery of the House Draw Fire in Johnson Co. comparing Wednesday morning to Thursday morning,” the NWS office in Riverton posted on X on Thursday afternoon. “The current estimate is that 175-200k acres were burned. Please follow local authority safety instructions.”
Two satellite photos were included in NWS Riverton’s post. The first was taken early Wednesday morning. Not even 24 hours later, a massive burn scar is visible in the second. According to the photos, “southwest winds fanned the flames during the afternoon, before northerly wind arrived Wednesday evening pushing the fire south.”
As of Thursday afternoon, no structures had been lost to the fire, the Johnson County Department of Emergency Management said in its most recent update on Facebook, although dozens are threatened.
“The fire remains active. It is burning in sage brush and grasslands,” the update said. “The fire has shown extreme behavior.”
Marilyn Connolly, a public information officer with the Johnson County Department of Emergency Management, told Newsweek that another update will be issued later on Friday morning. She stressed that the fire was extremely large.
At the time of the Thursday update, 16 fire engines, 13 dozers and two helicopters were being used to fight the flames, as well as 70 firefighters. Evacuations have been issued for north of Interstate 90 from Tipperary Road. I-90 closed temporarily, but has since reopened.
Multiple fire-related weather alerts remain in place across Wyoming, including a fire weather watch and a hazardous weather outlook. The fire watch will be in place on Saturday, according to the NWS Riverton alert.
“The National Weather Service in Riverton has issued a Fire Weather Watch, which is in effect from Saturday afternoon through Saturday evening,” the alert said. “Low Humidities…Unseasonably Warm Temperatures…and Strong Gusty Winds could cause erratic fire behavior.”
Southwest winds with gusts up to 45 miles per hour are expected, as well as humidity as low as 13 percent and temperatures as high as the lower 90s.