On the evening of May 4, 2000, a lightning strike in the Glass Mountains of Pecos County in West Texas ignited a wildfire that ultimately scorched more than 47,000 acres. Gusty winds and low humidity levels prevented the Texas Forest Service from quickly bringing the blaze under control. One firefighter lost his life on May 8 when his single engine tanker plane struck a radio tower. After a week-long battle, a shift in wind directions and an increase in relative humidity diminished the fire's strength, as it turned back on itself.

The Governor's Division of Emergency Management (DEM) of the Texas Department of Public Safety enlisted the services of the Texas Natural Resources Information System (TNRIS) in the firefighting emergency. Within 5 days of the fire's outbreak, staff from TNRIS and the UT Center for Space Research (CSR) obtained and processed imagery collected by both the Landsat 7 ETM+ and Terra MODIS sensors.

The Landsat 7 ETM+ burn scar image was acquired by TNRIS after the fire emergency. The fire extent is clearly demarcated. To the south and west of the burn scar, US Highway 385 is visible. Differing land management practices are discernable where fence lines form rectangular patches across the landscape. The Glass Mountains straddle the Pecos and Brewster county line. They lie approximately 25 miles southwest of Fort Stockton, Texas. The nearest community is Marathon, several miles to the south.