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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) geostationary satellites have captured the impact of California’s largest wildfire.
Images from the GOES 17 satellite show smoke from the fire spreading on Saturday.
“@NOAA’s #GOES17 was watching as California’s #McKinneyFire showed explosive growth on Saturday,” the agency said in a tweet. “The #wildfire has become California’s largest fire of 2022, scorching more than 50,000 acres as thousands of residents are forced to evacuate.”
The McKinney Fire has spread over 55,400 acres, burning through the Klamath National Forest.
WILDFIRES IN WEST EXPLODE IN SIZE AMID HOT, WINDY CONDITIONS
Inclement weather has complicated firefighting efforts and the blaze remains at 0% containment.
The wildfire has also been worsened by the dangerous drought conditions that have parched the West.
The California fire has forced evacuations and crews responding to the fire found two deceased individuals inside a car that was burned in its path.
CALIFORNIA’S MCKINNEY FIRE TURNS DEADLY AS 2 BODIES FOUND INSIDE BURNED VEHICLE
“The vehicle was located in a residential driveway along Doggett Creek Road, which is off of Highway 96, west of the Klamath River,” the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Authorities have also arrested two people on burglary-related charges within the McKinney Fire evacuation zone.
The fire, which has threatened hundreds of structures and forced evacuations, started on Friday in Siskiyou County.
Active wildfires also were burning over the weekend in Montana and Idaho.
Much of the Pacific Northwest remains under red flag warnings from the National Weather Service.
Fox News’ Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
