Uncontrolled California wildfires seen from space

Satellite images have revealed the scale of two wildfires spreading in southern California.The Sandy Fire ignited on Monday morning in the city of Simi Valley, north-west of Los Angeles, according to California-governor" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="130082" data-entity-type="organization">California Governor Gavin Newsom.Satellite images taken just after noon local time (20:00 BST) on Monday show a large plume of smoke rising into the air just south of the city.California-fire-officials" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="130083" data-entity-type="organization">California fire officials said on Tuesday morning that 750 firefighters were being supported by "night-flying water dropping helicopters" to target hotspots. The Simi Valley Police Department said it had received a report that an individual "hit a rock with a tractor", which sparked the fire, according to the BBC's US news partner CBS.The fire had since spread across 1,364 acres (550 hectares) and no part of it has been contained, officials said.Data from Nasa's wildfire monitoring platform shows active hotspots moving further south overnight into Tuesday.