This side by side false-color image of northern California was created by combining three of the Suomi NPP satellite's high resolution thermal and visible channels from the VIIRS sensor (SVI 4,2,1). These different channels allow us to see features not visible in more natural looking true color imagery, such as the burn scars (red) in this image. After a fire, these areas reflect much more infrared back through the atmosphere to the satellite's sensor, and thus show the extent of the fire's damage compared to surrounding vegetation and structures. Since the start of the October Fire Siege on Sunday, October 8, 21 major wildfires burned over 245,000 acres total and forced 100,000 people to evacuate.