File:Extreme Fire in New South Wales (MODIS 2023-12-19).jpg

English: In late 2023, a sweltering heat wave settled across large parts of Australia, creating extreme bushfire danger, especially in New South Wales and Queensland. On October 31, temperatures in the low 40°C (104°+) and gusty winds up to 50 km/h (31 mph) in New South Wales led to total fire bans across 80 percent of the state. Despite precautions, there were 87 fires burning in the state that day, with 36 of them out of control. 10 of those fires required an Emergency Warning, advising residents to seek shelter as the fire approached.

High temperatures and large bushfires fires have continued to plague New South Wales. As of December 18, there were 62 fires burning across the state, according to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS). Nineteen remained uncontained and one fire, burning in the Pilliga Forest, required an urgent Emergency Warning due to the high risk to human life.

The warning read, “Emergency Warning: Duck Creek Pilliga Forest, (Narrabri LGA) Baan Baa, Willala, Goolhi - SHELTER NOW. A fire generated thunderstorm (pyro-cumulonimbus) has formed to the south east of the fireground, causing erratic and dangerous fire behaviour. If you are in the areas of Baan Baa, Willala or Goolhi, your life is at risk. It is too late to leave. Seek shelter now in a solid structure such as a house. Do not be caught in the open in the path of the fire.”

Fortunately, by December 19, the warning was cancelled as the threat had been reduced due to rain and effective firefighting. The fire remains out of control and has burnt more than 112,000 hectares.

On December 18, 2023, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image centered on smoke and flames from the Duck Creek Pilliga Forest fire. Each red “hot spot” marks an area where the thermal bands on the instrument detected high temperatures. When combined with typical smoke, as seen in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for actively burning fire. It is not unusual for very large fires to show multiple hotspots. As a fire expands, it consumes the fuel in its path. This leads to several active fronts, where fresh vegetation is present, and cooling of the areas previously burnt.