Whitewater Baldy Complex

A couple of weeks ago, I flew from New Jersey to California on a commercial flight. As we flew over New Mexico, the co-pilot announced that if we looked out the left side of the plane, we would see the largest fire burning in the U.S. I knew that he was talking about the Whitewater Baldy Fire. Now I was flying in a passenger jet with six seats across and one aisle at 36,000 feet. I was sitting on the right side of the plane on the aisle. Window shades were raised and heads craned as everyone tried to look at the fire. It was a little difficult at first to see anything. After I minute or two, I started looking out another window and I could of sworn that I saw what looked like a very distinct smoke plume.

I'd like to say that I know with certainty that I saw a smoke plume for the Whitewater Baldy Complex Wildfire. But I have to be honest and say that it is quite possible that I did not see a smoke plume for the Whitewater Baldy Complex, However, thinking about the size of this fire, which at the time of this writing is just over 278,00 acres at 37% containment, got me thinking about the size of this fire. Just thinking that I might have seen this fire from 36,000 feet impressed me. I have no doubt that the pilots flying the passenger jet saw the fire.

 I was curious to see a satellite image of the fire, so I found this photo of the fire from the NASA earth observatory on May 29, 2012.

 I am fairly certain that by now many of you have heard about this fire through various media sources. So, I'll end here. Except to say that I hope that the Whitewater Baldy Complex wildfire is not a sign of things to come.