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Yahoo!Independent.com is harnessing the great technology provided by Google to provide detailed information about the Gap Fire via Google maps.
We can now display the perimeter of the burn, and also important reference points to help provide readers with as much information as possible. The points including the point of origin for the fire, other nearby points such as Lizard's Mouth, the Winchester Gun Club, and major canyons in the area.
As information comes in to us we will be able to provide a much clearer picture of where the fire is in relation to Goleta and San Marcos Pass. When the fire expanded so rapidly late yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon and evening, we couldn’t provide the emerging picture; we now can update accordingly.
This map is interactive; click on points or overlays for more info, click plus and minus to zoom in or out, move around by click-hold-and-drag, etc. For larger map, click here.
The Google technology is amazing; you can scroll around, zoom in and out and change from satellite view to Map or Terrain views — all from within the story itself. As a life long mapper, I’m impressed.
To view a full size copy of the map, click on "View Larger Map" takes you straight to a customized version of the Fire Map. Further clicking for the curious will take you to the Google map page this map was created on, which allows you to customize the map for your own use. Once you’ve used Google maps for a while more than likely you'll be looking for a larger monitor to view them. It's that good.
Ray Ford
From Cathedral Oaks it appears the fire is almost upon the homes just behind the ranch.
One of the things that the map should help provide is a much better understanding of how close the lower fire line is threatened areas. For those watching the fire burn down to the lower part of the Santa Ynez Mountains last night, it appeared that the fire was almost within striking distance of houses just across from Cathedral Oaks. A quick check of the map, however, shows that there is a major buffer of from one-to-two miles of ranch lands between the fire perimeter and the road — land that is much easier for fire fighters to defend than the heavy brush and steep mountain wall up above.
While this may not be completely reassuring, what it means is that you will now have the power to view the fire area in as much detail as you want. A suggestion: bookmark the large Google map so you can visit it often. The map is interactive, which means that as we update it the changes are posted to it automatically so you will always be viewing the latest information.
Look for the Independent to make use of further use of this technology to build maps of other parts of our local area.
Related Links
Double-clicking on any word or phrase in this story will open a reference window with definitions and links to other reference material.
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Q: "Have you heard about the latest cuisine from California?"
A: "Fire-roasted avocadoes a la Goleta..."
Readers say: Thumbs Up: 0 of 1 • Thumbs Down: 1 of 1
GoletaResident (anonymous profile)
July 3, 2008 at 4:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you so much for all the great coverage on the fire. I was waiting and hoping for someone to show a map where the fire is. The independent coverage is better than the internet TV website or any of the County or Fire department websites. As we have no TV we rely on the internet and all of you are on top of everything. Great detailed information. Now we all are able to know what is going on with the fire. It is frustrating that no other website shows or tells us enough info. The map is great, the previous info from last night was great. And even the info from the first night as well. Good job. Thank you for being there for us people. Thank you.
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shoo (anonymous profile)
July 3, 2008 at 5:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks Ray & The Independent!
This info has been sorely lacking on Inciweb, WRA, SB County websites. Kinda crucial when you live too
close to the active fire front up here on the Pass...
Also - great pictures as usual!
- dennis (from the caboose)
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densan (anonymous profile)
July 4, 2008 at 2:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ray;
Great job on this map. Thanks for providing this service to our community.
The MODIS satellite imager was created here in Goleta, by the people at (the former) Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. MODIS Fire Detection on Google Earth, shows hot spots detected today from satellite data. Download the file below:
http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/kml/conu...
Open the conus.kmz file with Google Earth to view, and click on Southern California to zoom to the Gap Fire data. Click on the dots once to expand data clusters, and again on single dots to see the date, time, and location of fire hot spots detected from polar orbits.
MODIS (or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) is a key instrument aboard the Terra (EOS AM) and Aqua (EOS PM) satellites.
Best Regards,
-- Jim
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JimHenrySB (anonymous profile)
July 4, 2008 at 2:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Does this mean the Goleta Water District treatment plant is burning? that's pretty bad.
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HiAll (anonymous profile)
July 6, 2008 at 5:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
40 B 52's designed as tankers...the fire is contained in one hour! Our fireman could go back to polishing the truck and checking fire hydrants. Would someone tell me why this wouldn't work? Save the "we can't afford it" argument. First add up the combined cost of all the fires in California over the past 10 years. That alone would take a team of investigators a least 6 months! We are on our way to Mars but we still fight wild fires with picks,shovels,a few planes,a couple of helicopters with buckets of water. I guess the bottom line, is that its really not that important......Who cares about Big Sur,...Yellow Stone.....Lake Tahoe...Laguna Beach...San Diego...Big Bear....We are just lucky this time the winds were not blowing off shore like they were during the San Diego fires, or like they were during the Laguna Beach fire. I hate to think thats what its going to take to get Santa Barbara's political clout rolling to seriously put our fire fighting resources up to date and maybe someday our firemen will actually be able to put OUT a fire.
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Rant_Abarbara (anonymous profile)
July 10, 2008 at 2:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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