Hope Springs Again at Sunday Night’s Gap Fire Briefing

Nick et al,

I posted this on a more obscure article on the fire, but I must repeat it as written below:

I must admit I used to loathe your ranting rag of a newspaper(ie "News & Review)." No need to explain why.

I now like it. You guys and gals have come a long way and I now see you as a worthy REPORTER of the news. Keep up the good work. Your newsprint has gone from fish wrap to Christmas wrap over the past year. Bully for you. And might I add, your staff is out there taking care of business when other media is writing up stuff from press releases...Damn good job, and don't lose that benchmark. Viva La.....

For sure it looks like the Gap fire made it over the ridge?

"Is it hot in here, or is it just me?"
- we want Rambo, we want Rambo....
"...send a maniac, to catch a maniac..."

"...don't mess around with the 'Demolition Man'..."

The S.B. independent has earned my respect on the outstanding coverage of this fire. I have a engine crew in my driveway at the moment, it is a bit scary,but being able to stay informed during the day while cutting brush ect, made it much less stress. Thanks and keep up the good work.

"...impeach Schwarzenegger..."...that's how he got this job in the first place...

The Independent is the absolute best in local coverage of the Gap fire. The photos and top notch reporting have kept us more informed than any other news websites. You guys are the BEST!

I have to emphasize just how much I agree with all of you here. I lived in Santa Barbara during the 1990 Painted Cave fire. I worked at the Daily Nexus at the time, and was there all night working in pasteup supporting a really stellar team of reporters. At sunrise, we fetched the keys to Storke Tower and went to the top to see what we could see, and I will never forget the eerie scene that met our eyes and the breathtaking way that fire wiped out 600 homes in 90 minutes and jumped all 6 lanes of the 101.

So I've been following the Gap fire with interest, trying to find whatever info I can online, and I've been rather stunned to see how miserable the coverage has been with the sole exception of the Independent. The News-Press site won't let me read their stories without paying? So 1999. Thousands of people are evacuated and all that's on TV is soaps? In 1990, KTYD immediately went to emergency broadcast system. TV coverage was non-stop. This is NOT Kalamazoo, Michigan here. This community has had better and deserves better. Santa Barbara is a big market in a serious fire emergency. Congratulations to the Santa Barbara Independent for actually reporting on this story and possibly saving lives but at the very least providing peace and sanity to many thousands of people up there who would otherwise be completely lacking.

Yes - only INDY is awake at this critical hour...like during last year's Zaca fire...

Thanks Randy Campbell and all at the Independent, particularly Ray Ford and Nick Welsh.

Perhaps you can mention how much (if any) of the Jesusita/Inspiration Point/Seven Falls trail will be closed by the Los Padres shutdown from Gibraltar west....

One more thing. Randy, I just read your post and yes, I do remember the Huttenback kitchen debacle, Michael Huffington's illegal nanny and my first introduction to a very huffy Arianna ... thanks for the memories. Congrats to you and Nick Welsh for such a track record.

http://www.wildlandfire.com/hotlist/show...

Inciweb has fresh info and a good map.

http://165.221.39.44/incident/1384/

Weather appears to have taken a favorable turn. 9,900 acres. Fire progressing westerly. Looks like good work done in Tecolote and Winchester Canyons.

Just wanted to keep the praise coming for the SB Independent. I'm a native Goletician living in Seattle and found every other news outlet to be asleep at the wheel for the Gap Fire. Inaccurate info, lazy updates, and general confusion marked the reporting of every other organization - including the guy on KTMS who seemed a bit too upbeat "morning show" during a very stressful Thursday night. However, the Twitter updates from the SB Independent were absolutely crucial, as I was able to relay up-to-date info to my folks and their friends during their evacuation. Thank you SB Indy for working so damn hard. Words cannot capture my sincere appreciation and I only wish the News-Press held themselves to the half the same standard of excellence that you've come to define.

--Dave
Seattle, WA

Yep - most people 'suck' - good to have high standards....

Just came back from a walk to Fairview - what did we see? No fire, but two police cars troubling citizens...
starring at the first, they left (probably ashamed by Conscience...) but the second were more 'stubborn'....still, seeing the commander's face tun red in shame....we understood...

"Your tax dollars at work..."

Hey - CongressWoman...we know you are reading this....'be responsible...'

If you feel so moved, please take a moment to go to

http://www.thanksgapfirefighters.com

and submit a message of gratitude for the firefighters who have been working this fire.

Thanks.

I came over the pass towards home Thursday night and saw the first flames of this fire. As soon as I got home, 10 minutes later, nothing on the news, online, radio...nada! I logged onto the Independent's website and Ray Ford was there with good, solid reporting and pictures of what I just saw ten minutes earlier...wow! The Independent has been the only real constant source of information...thank you, thank you for being there for us during this stressful time!

I haven't viewed the Independent as a serious news source until the GAP fire. In fact, I always subscribed to the online version of the News Press. My subscription recently ran out and I chose not to renew it. When the fire broke out I had to hunt for news because News Press wasn't a viable option and KEYT is just a joke. They only JUST posted an extremely short story about the boy that died on July 4th. I don't have time to watch the news and filter out the fluff so I rely on reading it online. The Independent is the ONLY newsworthy site for locals and from now on it is where I will go first. I also feel that there is less opinion and more facts here than I am used to seeing in the News Press.

Another bonus is that we can actually comment on the articles. While sometimes it may seem that there is more arguing than worthwhile commenting, it still gives us an opportunity as a community to discuss things in a safe way, even if we don't agree. In fact, the disagreeing may be good because it gives us a safe option for speaking our minds and for me, it helps me to see what others opinions are. I may not always agree but it's interesting!

Thanks Independent for being a serious source of the news and for keeping us all updated on these serious issues that are happening in our community. We appreciate you!

"Tip Us Off"...thanks for mentioning this (we missed it).

http://165.221.39.44/incident/1384/

"Expect active burning late this afternoon in the Ellwood Canyon area."

You all have done an excellent job. I think your politics generally suck, but that doesn't mean you haven't hit a home run with the Gap reporting.

Great job, great community service.