Through the combination of unreal heat, persistently strong winds, and a kindling-dry landscape, Colorado is currently suffering through the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history. Expanding 26 square miles, the wildfire has already displaced tens of thousands of people as their towns and homes have been torched by force of nature that seems more hellspawn than terrestrial.
Perhaps the only good news about the wildfire is that the fire doesn’t seem to have spread as much today thanks to slightly cooler temperatures. Still, the fire is enormous and only 15% contained. Hoping to provide some support to the rescue teams that are dispatched to help fight the fire as well as assist those that have had to evacuate, Google Maps has put together a crisis map that presents different layers of data related to the wildfire.
The full version of the map can be found here.
Google collaborated with several different response organizations to collect the info.
The map features fire perimeters from the U.S. Geological Survey, Red Cross shelters in affected areas and new satellite imagery provided by DigitalGlobe, of the Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs. You can also see more authoritative, local-level data from sources including the State of Colorado Division of Emergency Management and the Utah Division of Emergency Management.
Google will continue to update the crisis map as new information becomes available about the wildfire in Colorado as well as other states currently dealing with this particularly bad season.
Google is also encouraging anybody with some information that might be valuable as part of the crisis map to get in touch with Google via this form so that they can evaluate whether it needs to update the map.