Wildland Fires Burn Across Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia

In early August 2026, multiple wildfires were burning across Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia due to persistent drought conditions and extreme fire weather. Thermal hotspots indicative of fire (shown in red) are displayed on this true-color corrected reflectance image acquired on August 5 by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the NOAA-21 platform.

This aerosol index layer from the VIIRS instrument on NOAA-20 indicates the prevalence of poor air quality—even well away from the fires—as smoke plumes spread across the region. 

This map shows the relative abundance of nitrogen dioxide in the region's air as measured by the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite instrument at 20:00 UTC (1:00 p.m. PT) on August 5. Nitrogen dioxide is most often produced by the burning of fossil fuels for transportation, power generation, and industrial activity; but in this example, much of it is likely a result of the wildfires. Move the center swipe-bar left and right to see the peaks in nitrogen dioxide concentrations in relation to the fire locations.

Wildland fires also release formaldehyde into the atmosphere. TEMPO acquired this data showing elevated concentrations of formaldehyde on August 5. Swiping left and right shows the locations of the plumes relative to the fires.

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