Wildfires in the western U.S. seen from space station

Monday, July 26, 2021: Wildfires ravaging the western U.S. can be seen in this image taken from aboard the International Space Station by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei on Saturday (July 24).

“Very sad to see these fires in the Western United States late Saturday afternoon,” Vande Hei tweeted with the image.  “My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected.”

Wildfires are raging in many areas in the western parts of the U.S, sending choking plumes of ash and smoke into the atmosphere. NASA reported last week that the fires are affecting air quality across the country with many places on the east coast suffering from fire-related air pollution blown over by wind from the west.

In southern Oregon, the Bootleg Fire is still raging, having destroyed 408,930 acres of land. In California, the Dixie Fire, for example, has already devoured 190,000 acres of forest.

At the end of last week, the National Interagency Fire Center reported that 79 wildfires in total have burned more than 2,263 square miles (5,860 square kilometers) in the U.S. — Tereza Pultarova