Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The three men I admire most...They caught the last train for the coast

The situation in California is one of those instances perhaps better suited to the Internet than to television. TV could show us the flooding of New Orleans, but it can't really show us the devastation of fire. For that, you need maps and just plain old text.

This map, for example, gives you location and fire temperature, which makes you appreciate what Scout Prime said: how do the firefighters do it?

The Google Map of the fires around San Diego is here. This one will at least give you an idea of how many people are responding to the fire: aiding in evacuations, in shelters, etc. The LA Times has another Google map indicating fires north of San Diego. As Athenae said, we are all in this together.

A straight up listing of the fires themselves is available here. You'll note at there are 22 fires listed; only two are listed as "Contained."

Maps of the Sawtooth and Millard Complex fires are here. These are probably the most helpful maps for getting an idea of the size of the fires.

This map will give you an excellent overview of the areas burned and the areas still burning. It's a JPEG image and may take some time to download, but it's the best overall view I've found.

And here's a NASA satellite picture of the smoke plumes, which is the best graphic I've found for expressing the size and scope of this disaster.

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