fire

Is there an open source approach to civic emergencies?

The Zaca fire started at 10:53am on the 4th of July, when sparks cast off by a metal grinder ignited the dry brush that firefighters call "fuel". The flammable land where the fire began was Bell Canyon, near Zaca Lake, not far from Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch in the northern part of Santa Barbara county. Since then has advanced southeastward through back country wilderness, blackening land along a vector pointed toward Santa Barbara and populated South Coast of California. As of Saturday it had burned 81,795 acres.

In the last week authorities have met with residents of Santa Barbara, Montecito and Ojai, talking about the serious possibility that the large portions of the region will have to be evacuated if the winds turn south and the fire burns across firebreaks in one heavily wooded Santa Ynez ridge and down into Santa Barbara, Montecito