Bushfires in southeast Australia are burning out of control, threatening farmland, livestock, and homes in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. More than 500 homes have been destroyed, and several towns have fires within one or two kilometers of the city limits. Erratic winds push the fires, some of which have been burning for weeks, one way and then another, frustrating and exhausting the hundreds of firefighters battling the blazes. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image of the fires (red dots) was acquired January 22, 2003, around 11:30 a.m. local time.

Image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.