- NASA's satellite, Aqua, took a photo on Sunday showing smoke from California's wildfires stretching as far north as Oregon and as far east as Utah
- Much of that smoke is coming from the Carr Fire, a dangerous and fast-moving blaze centered near the Northern California city of Redding
- National Park officials said Tuesday the scenic Yosemite Valley and other areas will be closed 'at least through Sunday' due to heavy smoke from the so-called Ferguson Fire
Stunning satellite photos show the smoke from California’s wildfires stretching as far east as Utah - an indication of just how devastating the blazes have been.
NASA’s Aqua satellite, which is used to collect information about the Earth, shows smoke covering most of California.
The smoke is seen spreading as far north as Oregon and as far east as Salt Lake City.
The image was captured by Aqua on Sunday, according to Space.com.
Firefighters struggling to contain destructive Northern California wildfires found themselves facing a new blaze that erupted Tuesday and drove through a rural area near a national forest.
Stunning satellite photos show the smoke from California’s wildfires stretching as far east as Utah - an indication of just how devastating the blazes have been
Cal Fire Division Chief Mark Higgins directs helicopters dropping water as the River Fire tears in Lakeport on Tuesday
About 60 homes in an old ranching and farming area near Covelo, which is about 180 miles north of San Francisco, were ordered evacuated as the blaze erupted late in the afternoon.
Gusty winds quickly drove it through about a square mile of brush and grasslands, oak, pine and timber near Mendocino National Forest, Mendocino County Undersheriff Matthew Kendall said.
'We're advised that the fire was threatening structures,' he said.
However, there were no immediate reports of homes being burned.
Firefighting aircraft were called in but it was unclear when they might arrive because many already were engaged in other fires, Kendall said.
Some 40 miles to the south, twin fires straddling Mendocino and Lake counties have destroyed at least seven homes and threatened an estimated 12,000 more, fire officials said.
Jessyca Lytle fled a fast-moving Northern California wildfire in 2015 that spared her property but destroyed her mother's memorabilia-filled home in rural and rugged Lake County.
Less than three years later, Lytle found herself listening to scanner traffic Tuesday and fire-proofing her mother's new home as another wildfire advanced.
'Honestly, what I'm thinking right now is I just want this to end,' Lytle said, adding that she was 'exhausted in every way possible - physically, emotionally, all of that.'
Derek Hawthorne, a firefighter and spokesman for the fire crews, said the hot weather was not ideal but the wind was on their side where he was in the city of Upper Lake.
'It's blowing into the fire, and it's kind of blowing it back on itself,' he said.
To the east in Sutter County, a fire that erupted Tuesday night had torched about 1.5 square miles of grassland but no homes were evacuated, state fire spokesman Scott McLean said.
The toll of devastation from one of the most brutal fires in California history rose Wednesday to more than 1,000 homes destroyed and almost 200 damaged as a sprawling wildfire ignited by a spark from a towed vehicle grew to 180 square miles.
Blistering heat, shifting winds, steep terrain and plentiful dried growth continued to challenge more than 4,000 firefighters battling the Carr Fire, which has killed six people, including two firefighters.
"The western edge of fire continued to challenge crews yesterday evening," Cal Fire said Wednesday. "Crews will continue to construct control lines and contingency lines to mitigate further spread."
The fire has burned an area four times the size of San Francisco. The 1,018 homes, 12 businesses and 435 other buildings that have been confirmed as destroyed place the blaze sixth on the state's list of most destructive fires.
Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said all missing people reported to his office had been accounted for. But he said the death toll could rise.
"We're concerned with individuals that have no family," Bosenko said.
Mercy Medical Center said it was fully operational – even though dozens of employees, physicians or volunteers lost homes in the fire.
"The humankindness in the air is thicker than the smoke!" the hospital said in a note of thanks posted on its website to firefighters and other first responders.
There was some good news. The fire was almost 35 percent contained, and thousands of residents were allowed to return to their neighborhoods. Thousands more remain evacuated because of the blaze ignited July 23 by a spark from a steel wheel rim on a trailer towed with a flat tire.
The Carr Fire was one of more than a dozen racing through the parched state. Yosemite National Park's treasured Yosemite Valley, which has been closed since July 25, was among several areas of the park that won't reopen until at least Sunday because of heavy smoke from the Ferguson Fire. Park officials had hoped to reopen Friday.
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