text: NASA's Aqua satellite natural-color image taken Oct. 9, shows actively burning areas of California (hot spots), detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, outlined in red. Wildfires in northern California have burned through nearly 170,000 acres, killing 23, destroying 3,500 homes and other structures, and forcing the evacuation of more than 20,000. Hundreds remain missing. NASA image courtesy of Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC.