As firefighters continue to get a handle on the wildfires and residents return home, the slower pace of updates means fewer posts to this blog.
We will continue to update at every opportunity.
-Alexa Capeloto
San Diego County Wildfires 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
To our readers
Posted @ 6:03 PM
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43 comments:
Thanks for this Blog. It was the best way to get information, especially by the user's comments.
Dear Alexa Capeloto (et al),
I wanted to personally thank you for all that you and the staff has done by providing and updating this blog. This blog has been my primary source for unbiased and updated information. The major news networks (CNN, MSNBC, FOX, etc) pale in comparison in to your content, timeliness, and impartial news.
My family was evacuated on Tuesday before sunrise. Since that time, we frantically sought any piece of information regarding not only the fires in and around my neighborhood but in all of southern California. While we had a fairly extensive phone network of friends and neighbors, must of the information that we gleaned from them was erroneous. Your blog provided us with the best information anywhere.
Thank you again for being there for us and the community of San Diego in this time of crisis. Your blog has been a source of security in a time when all around us was chaos. We are eternally grateful.
Most Sincerely,
Christopher McIntosh
Thank you for giving us source of information. I am currently in Bend, OR but have family, friends and property in the San Diego area. Having a place to find detailed information was invaluable.
To all of you, again, a big Thank You.
Heike
I also say THANK YOU!
Kept me and my family informed and was also a way to communicate with other readers.By being able to leave comments I have met new neighbors and have met up with a few. Again thank you so much!
Another thank you! This blog has been very helpful!
A wonderful job by all.
Your blog was a wonderful, invaluable resource. Thank you so much! We didn't get evacuated this time, but during the Cedar Fire we were out for 5 days- it was so frustrating being unable to get info.
Thank you again for a great resource.
I concur with all the thank you's....
I ended up just coming to this blog instead of watching the news because I could go to the categories that interested me most (based on geography), and could get much more current info than the news stations were providing. This site was a blessing to discover.
another thank you
i relied on this blog since tuesday morning when it was the only thing that had updates on spring valley area. way better than the tv news
thanks again
#1 resources related to this wildfires!
I live in Central Calif. and because of your blog I was able to tell my family of the evacuation notice to their area, long before they received the reverse 911. Also while they were evacutated, I was able to relay to them all the vital updated info that you gave. I cannot thank you enough for what you did for us. You were the best source and I am forever grateful.
Best idea the Trib ever has was to create this blog during the crisis.
Thank you, from my family in Carmel Valley, in San Diego, in La Mesa, in Pacific Beach, in La Jolla, in Seattle WA, in Naples, FL and in NY, NY
I won't even begin to list friends! Without this blog, we would have been in the dark about so much during a time when we were all frightened to death. I personally kept informed via cell phone for 4 straight days after we left town.
The dedication on the part of the blog posters was unmatched. Here's to hoping you all win some type of modern journo award. And you already have the respect of the entire community!
A Heartfelt THANK YOU.
The Ruggieri Family
I wanted to echo the sentiments of others on here. Thank you very much for providing an important information sources/resource during the fires.
Thank you for this blog. It has been my lifeline since Tuesday afternoon. All the other news sources focused on sensationalism and drama while this blog focused on concise fact. You should be proud, very proud.
I want to thank everyone who contributed to all of the information found here over the last week. I lived in Escondido and San Marcos for many years before moving to Arizona and still have family and friends in the Escondido/San Marcos/Valley Center area.
Your constant updates and comments helped a great deal when I was trying desperately to get information on family and friends.
Thank you again and may God bless you all and watch over you as you go through the long process of "getting back to normal".
This blog, by far, had the best and most up to date information I could find on the wildfires. It was a real service to the whole community in a time of need.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! This site has been amazing for the most current information! THANK YOU!!!
Thank you so much for this blog... it kept me sane to know how close I was to the fires... and whether or not I needed to leave!
The blog and the UT's "real time" coverage of the fire actually renewed my faith in our local paper a bit. Thank you for keeping this blog up and running. It kept my family up to date like no other source that was out there.
This was easily the best source of information on things, and anyone I managed to pass it along to was extremely grateful.
My only critique is that its presence could have been publicized even more clearly.
OUTSTANDING job. THANK YOU!!
The U-T did a fantastic job. Between this blog and kpbs's Google map, one had all the updated information one could want. This was an excellent adaptation of printed media to internet technology.
i live in seattle, wa. my parents live in rancho bernardo. thank you so much for your efforts during this fire!
My sincere thank you to all the contributors of the Wildfires 2007 blog, to everybody who posted on the UT forums, and, of course, to the brave fire fighters and first responders who saved so many homes and lives.
My wife and I used the blog and forums as a prime source of information while being evacuated -- we got up-to-date news when we needed it most, even dedicated content for the various neighborhoods where our and our friends' houses were endangered.
You all made the hours of waiting and uncertainty as bearable as can be.
When we returned to our house we found everything as described on the blog and in the forums -- including the fact that the fire fighters had stopped the fire 90 yards from our house.
Thanks to them and to all of you!
Thank you for your automatically updating page that was the most up-to-date information I could find after days of scouring the internet, I gave up on everything else and just left my browser here.
Like many people, we evacuated. I tried to add my own input to the comments, as did many others.
Great job and perhaps it could be hyped more if and when (I sure hope not!) we should need it again.
An enthusiastic YES to all of the previous comments! This site was MOST helpful to our Valley Center community, when less detailed info was available elsewhere.
Dear Blogging Crew:
My siblings and I live all over the world, and when we heard about the fires and how they affected our family in PQ we constantly logged onto your main news website.
I saw the switch from the "breaking news" section on the site, to the "fireblog" and when that crashed out, to twitter and this blogspot: I wanted to say how much we all appreciated the constant updates, as well as the map updating. It made a huge difference to all of us these past few days.
Thank you!
THANK YOU!!!! for this blog. I agree with all the other posts. It was a brilliant idea and made all of our lives easier through this entire ordeal.
Thank you!
Way To Go!
This was the best source for accurate up to date information.
Thank you!
Yet another thank you to Alexa et al!
The current, unbiased information in this blog was the only fresh air in mediatown. I do hope you leave it up for future reference, memories, etc.
To all those new to the blogosphere, notice how totally useless the networks and the dead tree editions of media are? Full of omissions, out of date, full of agendae, corporate ads, blecch!
Once one developes a few filters for the snark, shills, and newbies; the collective, current information is right here in the blogosphere.
Add my "Thanks!" to the list. You folks have done a terrific job keeping us informed on a seemingly continuous basis. There was a lot of misinformation floating around the media; this blog quickly became my source for accurate news.
Thanks again, one and all!
To all of you expressing thanks, you are very welcome. I can speak for everyone at the U-T and SignOn in saying that we're glad we could provide you with the information you wanted -- and when you wanted it -- in this dreadful time for our county. This is what we're here for.
While I'm on, I would like to respond to Anonymous, at 8:47, who wrote:
"To all those new to the blogosphere, notice how totally useless the networks and the dead tree editions of media are? Full of omissions, out of date, full of agendae, corporate ads, blecch!"
You should know that this blog was the early draft of the morning newspaper, which provided more depth, context, explanation and background than we can wehn we're reporting in real time. The fireblogs were reported and edited by the staff of the San Diego Union-Tribune and its website, SignOnSanDiego, and had 100 or more people contributing to them at various times.
My point is that we were able to give you what you needed -- thorough, continuous and authoritative information -- only because we have a large news reporting staff plugged into all the local news sources. At least for the time being, that's a resource only a newspaper has at the ready.
The printed edition still pays for most of that. But with the support of readers like all of you, we hope we'll be able to support our newsroom's breaking news and watchdog reporting while publishing on new digital platforms, like the fireblogs.
At any rate, thank you all for your interest, and for your kind words.
Tom Mallory
U-T Breaking News Team
yes, thank you so much for updating the information very quickly. My parents live in valley center and it seemed like the news barely touched on it. This was very helpful in making me feel better (knowing what's happening) and also allowing to tell my parents what was going on while they were at the evac site. I was with my parents during the cedar fire and being away from them this time around made me worry more, so thank you so much for alleviating that!
I can't thank everyone enough for keeping us informed. I became so dependent on your website for reliable information. I'm sure for every "thank you comment" posted, there are hundreds of others saying YES, GREAT JOB!
I appreciated it too. And I do know that you had your resources as a newspaper behind this blog. I can't read newspapers anymore because of allergy to the solvent in inks but I read online. I wonder if someday you might evolve to being something I could subscribe to online, with coverage that's a little easier to read when I want to know what's going on. Understand, I like your online news now but only when I have the patience to wade through all the clicking. I have ADHD and fibromyalgia so attention span is not so great, but this blog without all the pretty fonts and stuff on the sides worked wonderfully.
Thanks again to all of the writers and to a lot of those who wrote such informative comments.
I used this blog for info that I then text-messaged to friends without power. They couldn't watch TV or use computers, etc., but I was able to keep them updated all through Monday and Tuesday. When I had to leave town on Weds., I kept up with the coverage via the browser on my PalmPilot. Thank you for the wonderful coverage and the excellent job you did on gathering information for us!
The U-T did a fabulous job with this blog. I relied on it more than any other news source and passed the URL to everyone I know in and out of the area. I also appreciated the 'fire map', but the blog was vital to finding out what was going on. Thank you, to all the U-T staffers who maintained the blog!
I've already posted once, but also forgot to mention that I appreciate the homepage of the U-T being taken down to essentials a day or so into the fires. With slow network access at times, we needed the page to load fast without extra time-wasting features. That was a great decision and very much appreciated!
THANK YOU - I live in central Australia and my son's house is on Palomar. Trying to find an online news source with current updates was difficult. Yours was the best and I appreciated the timely and complete coverage. Great job.
Alexa -
The UT Blog was my family and friends primary resource for information during the fires while we were evacuated (and after). Thanks to you we continue to have current and most importantly accurate information.
Thanks!
I'm new to blogs, but won't be without them again during a crisis such as this. Yours, and the Valley Roadrunner's, were the BEST for keeping us on top of the situation in VC, and got us home as quickly as possible.
Look at these pics revealing the shocking contrast between our normal beautiful weather and the smoke and ash that the many fires brought us last week.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shakz/sets/72157602649420904/
This blog was my top source for information on the fire. Thank you so much!
I too want to add my thanks for the tremendous service your paper has provided the people affected by these fires! My mother lives in Deerhorn Valley and the only information we could find for this area has been on this blog. I too was able to send along text messages to family as information was posted was here. And it was extremely helpful to be able to communicate with others looking for info for this area too. I add my vote for an award in journalism for the valuable service you provided members of the community and their families around the country!
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