Type the name of an ongoing wildfire in Google search, and the site will now bring up a map with an almost real-time limit of the fire. Google unveiled the feature today, which was piloted in California last year and will now be available across the US.
Google Maps will also update users on road closures and provide directions that help them avoid danger and roadblocks. If someone looks at an area near Google Maps, they will get a warning.
Getting accurate information for people near a fire can save lives. It is also a constant challenge for emergency responders, as the situation can change rapidly, while hearsay online rapid sources can quickly drown. Google developed the new mapping feature with input from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) as part of an effort to make finding key updates easier.
When people in the past searched for information about fires on Google, they ran into one of two problems, Ruha Devanesan, crisis response product partnerships leader at Google, said on a 19th press call. There was not enough information or too much to sort through. In the latter case, speculation and unvetted resources could endanger people instead of safety.
The issue came to the attention of Yossi Matias, vice president of engineering at Google, in 2010 during the Mount Carmel fire in Haifa, Israel. Matias was working in Google’s office in Haifa when his team saw smoke outside. A Google search failed to do anything more useful than what they could already see from their windows. “While we were finding some details to confirm what we already knew – a major fire occurred outside our door – we experienced a potentially life-threatening information gap,” Matias wrote in a blog post announcing the new mapping feature today.
Now, the same Google search would result in more curated content. The shock that Matias and his team experienced led to the development of Google’s SOS Alerts in 2017. Under a red banner called “SOS Alert,” the search results provide top stories, followed by official updates for emergencies. As of today, search for wildfires will also include a more detailed map that shows the limits of an active blast.
Red stripes on the map depict an area consumed by flames. It is generated from data provided by the GOES satellites of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is then processed by Google’s geospatial analysis platform, Earth Engine. The result is the shifting, red border that refreshes about once an hour. One potential hiccup is that users need to have an internet connection to get the most up-to-date data – not something that is always reliable when fleeing a wildfire.
Google says it hopes to roll out the feature in other countries. And while the mapping is aimed at helping citizens, Google says it’s also exploring how similar features can help providers in California.
California’s fire seasons have become more devastating as the climate warms. “We are all on point, we do not know what will happen, we do not know what tomorrow will bring,” said Abby Browning, head of the Office of Private Sector at Cal OES, in a press release from Google. Currently, her office is facing about 360 fires that wanted to spread across the state. “The best thing about calming fears, helping everyone, is information,” Browning said.
