In Big Sur, Web Site Run by Resident Is Key Data Source By STU WOO Wall Street Journal
July 9, 2008; Page A3 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121556279245437673.html?mod=2_1571_leftbox BIG SUR, Calif. -- As a wildfire that has ravaged 80,000 acres threatens their community, residents waiting for news about their homes and businesses here aren't waiting for word from fire officials at nightly meetings or from newspapers in the morning. Instead, they are heading online to SurFire2008.org. The Web site and blog are run by Lisa Goettel, a temporarily homeless Web designer whose move to a new Big Sur house about 150 miles south of San Francisco was derailed by the wildfire, which was 18% contained Tuesday. Ms. Goettel runs the site out of a coffee shop with free wireless Internet in Carmel-By-The-Sea, about 25 miles north of Big Sur. She depends on five residents and businesspeople who remain in Big Sur -- defying mandatory evacuation orders -- for on-scene reports. The site has become a must-read for Big Sur residents, the media and even fire officials. It routinely scoops fire officials and newspapers. The site also provides displaced residents a space to find temporary employment or shelter. The blog has already received 73,000 hits since it went up on July 3. After the evacuation order, Mayra Reyes and her father spent a couple of nights at a hotel, which charged them $40 a night. But then they visited the SurFire2008 site and found good Samaritans who had posted an offer to house Big Sur residents. "It was very helpful," said Ms. Reyes. Retired lawyer Sam Goldeen said he checks the site three or four times a day. "It's all there is," Mr. Goldeen said. "These nightly meetings don't talk about [specific] homes and areas." Generally, he said, the fire chief doesn't know "because he's concerned about the big picture, and he should be." The blog is updated several times a day by Ms. Goettel and correspondents like Stan Russell, the executive director of Big Sur's chamber of commerce who has been bunkered in the Post Ranch Inn here for the past week. The 52-year-old Mr. Russell, armed with a digital camera, a pair of binoculars and a laptop, walks around the ash-covered 100-acre property to take pictures and report on what he can see from the hilltop site. He sends a report to Ms. Goettel, who puts it online. "The way we are doing it is certainly unique," Mr. Russell said. "I think people are going to look at us as a model...at how fast and efficiently we self-organized." The blog strives to adhere to journalistic standards of accuracy and objectivity, Mr. Russell said. The goal is to provide information, not opinions, which is why comments aren't allowed on blog posts, he said. Sitting in front of her MacBook and a drained cup of peppermint tea at the Carmel Café & Cocoa Bar on Monday, Ms. Goettel, 34, said she got the idea for the SurFire2008 site after seeing a similar one made for the recent flooding in her hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. At first, her site compiled information from official sources. "But the information was slow, so we started relying on local sources as well as official sources," Ms. Goettel said. Fire officials have been very cooperative, she said. Now, the blog posts first-hand reporting as well as updates from official sources. Ms. Goettel posted a short summary of the Monday-evening meeting, in which fire officials announced that some mandatory evacuations had been lifted. On Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Russell was sending Ms. Goettel the official notice he received from fire officials, stating that residents on a stretch of Highway 1 in the heart of Big Sur were allowed to return home. The Basin Complex fire in Big Sur is one of more than 1,700 sparked by rare early summer thunderstorms. About 1,450 of the fires have been contained, but several are still threatening homes. More than 630,000 acres and 40 homes have already been burned in the blazes, which officials fear may worsen this week as record-high temperatures may hit. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu ******************************* * POST TO [EMAIL PROTECTED] * ******************************* Medianews mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
