The vegetation was already dry before the fire started.

What this is — and what it is not

Retrospective, not predictive. We did not forecast this fire. The ignition near Saumos was reported as accidental; a dry canopy is a condition, not a cause. What the measurement shows is that the drying was already visible from orbit, weeks in advance, on the ground that later burned.

One dimension only. Vegetation condition and dryness, on a relative scale — not the calibrated, height-based clearance assessment used for operational work.

Computed here, end to end. No third-party fire product, burned-area map or land-cover database is used; the land-cover split is derived from the imagery itself.