Envisat captures California ablaze   This Envisat image, acquired on 22 October 2007, captures fierce easterly desert winds blowing smoke from wildfires in Southern California. Gale-force winds have fed more than a dozen fires from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border since breaking out on Sunday, killing one person and forcing the evacuation of a quarter of a million people.   This Envisat's MERIS image, acquired on 22 October 2007, shows desert winds blowing smoke from wildfires in Southern California. Sand is visible being blown from Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula over the Gulf of California to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Release date: 22 February 2008