image: A fire danger period has been declared as of July 4, 2014, under the Bushfires Act for all areas of the Northern Territory north of the 21st parallel which includes the entire Cape York Peninsula. This means any burning being done, must be by permit only. The annual declaration will remain in place until the end of the year (or until conditions change). The weather has changed in the north and conditions are now more dangerous for controlling fires. A strong wet season means the upper portion of Australia produced heavy fuel loads this year. Firefighters are working to burn off some of the fuel loads and build fire breaks but bushfires still break out in this remote area.
This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard the Aqua satellite on July 7, 2014. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red.
Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner with information from Bushfires NT.