--- ---  # See an Astronaut's Epic Photo of the Northwest Wildfires From Space by [Olivier Laurent](https://time.com/author/olivier-laurent/) ## Olivier Laurent Aug 18, 2015 9:10 PM UTC  An image of the wildfires in the Northwest taken from the International Space Station and released on Aug. 17, 2015. An image of the wildfires in the Northwest taken from the International Space Station and released on Aug. 17, 2015.Kjell Lindgren—NASA by [Olivier Laurent](https://time.com/author/olivier-laurent/) ## Olivier Laurent Aug 18, 2015 9:10 PM UTC With more than 100 wildfires burning in parts of California, Oregon and Washington, NASA’s astronaut Kjell Lindgren shared a photo of the colossal plumes of smoke seen from space. “Thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the wildfires in the Northwest,” the flight engineer wrote on Twitter from abroad the International Space Station. In California alone, more than 11,000 firefighters were [mobilized](http://time.com/3993681/northern-california-wildfire-evacuations/), with the U.S. Forest Service spending more than $100 million each week nationwide. The agency warns it will have exhausted its annual firefighting budget by the end of the week. Already, more than [7.1 million acres](https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/nfn.htm) have been charred across the country, a record at this particular time of the year. ### PHOTOS: 20 Breathtaking Images of Earth From Space  Aleppo, Syria, May 26, 2013 – The Citadel of Aleppo – medieval fortified palace DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nov. 3, 2013 – “Wish,” a large-scale art work DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Utah, USA, April 22, 2013 – Colorado River DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Cuanza River, Angola, April 28, 2013 – Cambambe Dam DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Doha, Qatar, March 4, 2013 – Artificial island spanning nearly four million sq meters. DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Dunalley, Australia, Jan. 6, 2013 – fires, false color image (red = healthy vegetation) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Australia, April 22, 2013 – Great Barrier Reef DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Gwadar coast, Pakistan Sept. 29, 2013 – new island created by earthquake in Pakistan DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Hong Kong, China May 9, 2013 – giant rubber duck DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, March 22, 2013 – Manam Volcano DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Namib Desert, Namibia, May 13, 2013 – Sossusvlie area DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Naples, Italy, Feb. 19 2013 – Mount Vesuvius DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Niger, Feb. 13, 2013 – Arlit Uranium Mine DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Schooner Cays, Bahamas, May 26, 2013 DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Sochi, Russia, March 17, 2013 – Site of 2014 winter Olympics DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Near the city of Sur, Oman, Feb. 13, 2013 – massive “green tide” DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Valencia, Spain, July 19, 2013 – Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Gulliver Park with an enormous fiberglass model of Lemuel Gulliver trapped DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Versailles, France, Aug. 20, 2013 – Palace of Versailles DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Xi'an, China, Sept. 24, 2013 – Shiyuan Park DigitalGlobe—Getty Images Wildfires in the Northwest Seen From Space ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4001673/northwest-wildfires-space/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4001673/northwest-wildfires-space/"},"headline":"See an Astronaut's Epic Photo of the Northwest Wildfires From Space","datePublished":"2015-08-18T21:10:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:00.692Z","description":"The huge columns of smoke can be seen from space","url":"https://time.com/4001673/northwest-wildfires-space/","keywords":["Space","NASA","photography","earth","natural disaster","international space station","Astronaut","planet","A Year In Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt272c4921cdfea19b/69885fcbcd1bba15006fcc61/northwest-wildfire-space-station-august-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivier Laurent","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/olivier-laurent/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt272c4921cdfea19b/69885fcbcd1bba15006fcc61/northwest-wildfire-space-station-august-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Northwest Wildfires Space Station","caption":"Northwest Wildfires Space Station","creditText":"Kjell Lindgren—NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4001673/northwest-wildfires-space/","name":"See an Astronaut's Epic Photo of the Northwest Wildfires From Space"}}]}] ```