File:Fires near Lake Baikal, Russia (MODIS 2017-06-29).jpg

English: An early and strong spring fire season in Siberia intensified in the first days of summer 2017. By June 22, heavy smoke covered much of Irkutsk Oblast northwest of Lake Baikal. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the smoke and fires on that same day. Red outlines on each image are hot spots detected by MODIS where surface temperatures indicate the presence of fire.

According to Russian state media, at least 27,000 hectares (100 square miles) were burning in the Irkutsk Oblast region as of June 23. Another 27,000 hectares burned in neighboring states and regions. More than 200 firefighters were sent to control the blazes. Dry lightning and human carelessness were cited as the causes of some of the fires.

On June 20, the MODIS aboard the Aqua satellite captured a true-color image of the same region. That image showed several dozen fires burning in forests and other vegetated areas, but they appeared small and with relatively little smoke, compared to the June 22 image. The earlier image was the MODIS Image of the Day on June 28 and can be viewed at https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2017-06-28 . NASA’s Earth Observatory also published multiple images of the fires from June 22, and these can be viewed at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=90470&eocn=home&eoci=nh