California Wildfire Maps: How fires and smoke are spreading

The wildfires ravaging northern California this month are among the most destructive in the state's history. Since the beginning of October  wildfires across northern California counties including Napa  Sonoma  Mendocino  and Butte have to date burned over 170 000 acres of land  destroyed 3 500 structures  forced the evacuation of 200 000 people  and caused 31 deaths.

The accelerated speed at which these fires are spreading  reportedly spanning 20 000 acres a single day  are making it nearly impossible for  fire managers to forecast using their traditional models which are typically built with data related to vegetation type  humidity  temperature  and terrain. But  as recently reported  these models are outdated and do not take into account the volatile weather conditions  especially turbulent wind patterns  caused by the fire itself.

Together  the maps visualize active fire perimeters  density of smoke levels  nearby vulnerable populations  and property risks to local agricultural businesses. We hope the maps will help disseminate vital information to residents  rescue agencies  and relief organization while also raising awareness of the long term health hazards exposure to high levels of smoke.

Mapping Smoke Density Exposure Levels

The apocalyptic images (above) of Disneyland drastically show the smoke density levels across Anaheim  California putting residents at-risk for health hazards from smoke inhalation. But there are no active wildfires in Anaheim or any nearby areas as the image below shows:

The data visualization (below) presents active wildfires (as of this publication) and the density of smoke spreading across the state using data provided by (1) NOAA's National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center and (2) Hazard Mapping System Fire Analysis.

Public health official looking for more demographic information on populations at-risk for respiratory complications resulting from exposure to high level of smoke can turn of a third layer of data provided by the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI).

In the map below  the SVI data layer has been turned activated and the "Socioeconomic Theme" widget's autostyle feature has been turn on to provide demographic context to the map.

Styling this map by various demographic attributes can provide public officials insights on how best to prioritize response initiatives for the most vulnerable populations.

A close up view of Napa county

The previous map presented a statewide overview of the wildfire crisis  but for a more local understanding  Mamata built a second map on Napa County that syncs each hour with updated data on (1) Napa County Parcel Data and (2) Fire Perimeter Data.

The map below  using the autostyle feature for the "Active Fires" widget  provides tactical information on property risks through Napa county.

Local government officials can use this type of information to more strategically allocate disaster relief resources. For example  the "Land Use Type" widget helps estimate residential occupancy for each parcel allowing responders to identify at-risk populations according to their proximity to active fire perimeters.

How to help

There’s plenty of ways you can help in current and future disaster relief efforts. The Red Cross has provided detailed instructions on how to donate  and for more local initiatives you can checkout this post from The San Diego Union Tribune.