When Saddam Hussein's troops retreated from Kuwait in February 1991, they set afire hundreds of oil wells. There were more than 450 individual fires in the Sabriyah field to the north (right) and the Ahmadi field to the south of Kuwait City. Soot from the plumes stained the sand near the fires and can still be seen today. The satellite photos of the recent California fires reminded me directly of these with a different kind of smoke.
