Harris Fire Update...

The California Fire Alliance web site (the same place where I get MODIS thermal imagery) just posted a “fire perimeter” – to the best of my knowledge, this is the fire command's best estimate of the current perimeter of the burned area. In this image, it is the light blue cross-hatched area.

This map corresponds very well to both the MODIS data and observations from the cameras on Lyons Peak – but (assuming it's accurate) it fills in some details not obtainable from either of those sources. A word of caution as you look at this image: just because your home lies within the blue hatched area does NOT mean it was lost! The firefighters had (and still have) structure protection teams fighting at the fire's flanks and at hotspots throughout the entire fire. We have seen on the news many stories of their successes – and we know that the number of homes lost in the Harris Fire is a tiny fraction of the total number of homes within that area…