California Wildfire Creates 'Fire Cloud' Seen From Space

A California wildfire created a "fire cloud" that was seen from space over the weekend. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-West satellite caught sight of the fire's growth on Saturday, CNET reported.

The agency noted that the fire has shown "extreme behavior" and "explosive growth." Research meteorologist Scott Bachmeier of the University of Wisconsin, Madison reviewed the satellite imagery and saw pyrocumulonimbus clouds produced by the fire.

This type of cloud, which is referred to as a fire cloud, can form above hot fires. According to Space News, the satellite imagery shared by Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, showed the huge fire cloud 50,000 feet tall that channels smoke into the atmosphere.

These fire clouds can produce lightning strikes that can create more wildfires. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) calls these types of storms a "fire-breathing dragon of clouds."

The fire cloud is a thunderstorm created by the heat, moisture, and pollutants that fires send up into the atmosphere.

The California McKinney Wildfire

Caroline Quintanilla, a public information officer, noted that California's McKinney wildfire is burning in steep terrain in the Klamath National Forest west of Yreka.

The U.S. Forest Service noted that the forest fire had approximately grown to 51,468 acres as of Sunday morning with zero percent containment, as reported by Los Angeles Times.

Multiple communities receive evacuation orders, including Scott Bar, Klamath River, and Horse Creek, with the order covering at least 500 homes.

Quintanilla noted that firefighters were forced to assist with evacuation and defend structures while also controlling the fire's perimeter.

Bryan Schenone, director of the county's office of emergency management, said a number of homes along the Shasta River had been destroyed. Officials have yet to get an accurate count of the losses due to fire danger.

California Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for Siskiyou County on Saturday. Meanwhile, two more fires in the county, namely China 2 and Evan Fires, have burned more than 300 acres in the afternoon.

California Wildfire Damages

The McKinney Fire in Northern California near the Stateline with Oregon is considered the state's largest wildfire for this year so far.

Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that two bodies were found inside a burned vehicle in a driveway in the wildfire zone, ABC News Go reported.

The sheriff's office noted that the vehicle and the bodies were found on Sunday in the driveway of a residence near the remote community of Klamath River.

Courtney Kreider, a spokesperson with the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office, noted that a third fire caused evacuation orders for around 500 homes on Sunday. Kreider added that the childhood home of one sheriff's deputy burned on Friday.

Officials said the crews had been on the scene of the fire since last Saturday, but it became active and escaped its containment line the following morning.

McKinney Fire reportedly erupted at 2:38 p.m. on Friday, specifically at Highway 96 and McKinney Creek Road southwest of the Klamath River. Officials have not yet determined the cause of the wildfire.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: McKinney Wildfire Is California's Largest Fire This Year - From ABC News