Some harrowing before and after photos from a Maxar instrument via LA Times (may be pay walled):

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-08/shocking...

This shows Altadena, just east of JPL, and Malibu (separate fires, of course).

This is a horrific satellite picture of Altadena:

https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/06-closer-s...

The blue and green colour small areas suggest this is a false color image that maps colours to a value and coincidentally looks like a fire.

Presumably it's measuring heat or something vaguely relevant but I don't trust my immediate visceral reaction to it.

The image filename contains SWIR which is a clue.

Several instruments can sense emissions in short-wave IR which light up for fires (and hot smoke plumes, and some industrial plants). E.g., VIIRS which is a successor to MODIS (https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/instruments/viirs/viirs-...).

The resolution in the posted image is much better than satellite, however. This implies that it's an airborne platform like FIRIS (https://wifire.ucsd.edu/firis-in-depth). It also uses IR.

The image has the label MAXAR at top right. I believe that company only does satellite imagery? Also articles that link to the image call it satellite data, eg: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/08/us/video/images-fire-before-a...

They've been doing FIRIS flights over the fires under the call sign INTEL 24

wow.

Both unfortunately. Many neighborhoods seem fully engulfed based on the maps: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents.html#

From the initial National Weather Service alert:

> IMPACTS...If fire ignition occurs, conditions are favorable for very rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior, including long range spotting, which would threaten life and property. There will be a high risk for widespread downed trees and powerlines, as well as widespread power outages. A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. Use extreme caution with anything that can spark a wildfire.

So seems the combination of the wind + fire makes for easy and fast fire propagation. The alert/warning in full is a pretty interesting read: https://alerts-v2.weather.gov/search?id=urn%3Aoid%3A2.49.0.1...

In the Palisades? Nearly everything. Homes, the iconic Pali high school, the shops, the bushes — it's reportedly devastated.