Satellites looking down on the Earth have captured images of the smoke from multiple wildfires that have been raging though Southern California.
NASA's Aqua spacecraft snapped tan-colored plumes moving out over the waters of the Pacific Ocean from several intense blazes being battled by firefighters in San Diego County.
Nine separate fires were being fought Thursday morning, with a total area involved of almost 16 square miles.
Smoke from several fires in Mexico could also be seen in the satellite photos.
With persistent drought, high winds and a bout of brutal heat, firefighters are facing an uphill battle to attempt to gain control of the spreading fires, officials said.
The U.S. Drought Monitor has classified the entire state as being in either severe or exceptional drought conditions throughout May.
In order for the drought to break, the majority of the state would need to see 9 to 15 inches of rain in fall in just one month.
That would amount to six months worth of precipitation in an average year, Weather Underground meteorologist Jeff Masters said.
Although there have been no reported of death or injuries in the ongoing fires, flames from the various conflagrations have destroyed 30 homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents that were only lifted early Friday after three days.
Officials said they were investigating how such a large number of fires could erupt at about same time and were not ruling out the possiblitity some may have been intentionally set.
"We all have suspicions, like the public does, when you have nine fires that started all over the county," San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said.
Police say they arrested two teenagers Thursday who matched descriptions given by witnesses of a duo starting two brush fires in the Escondido area of San Diego.
Police said it was as yet unknown if there was anything connecting them to the larger fires burning across the county.
Seeing fires this fierce as early in the season as May was "pretty amazing," San Diego Fire Chief Javier Mainar said.
"We live in a fire-prone environment here, but when things are this dry, and the humidity is this low, and the winds are blowing as we see here today, were very, very concerned," he said.
