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Wildfires

When data is throttled, it could mean life or death

by Jed Kim
Aug 22, 2018
Firefighters noticed their communications were slow when the Mendocino Complex fire broke out. Was the difficulty in connecting due to the repeal of net neutrality rules, or just a matter of the wrong data plan? Verizon responded by suggesting an upgrade, and later apologized. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 
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With California wildfires burning, it's a tough time to be running a Yosemite-area inn

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Aug 10, 2018
"Business is a little dicey right now," Lori Howard says of her bed-and-breakfast.
Dead trees line a clearing as a helicopter battling the Ferguson fire passes behind in the Stanislaus National Forest in California on July 22.
NOAH BERGER/AFP/Getty Images
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Will federal funding fix help prevent forest fires?

by Andy Uhler
Jun 5, 2018
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is holding a hearing on the 2018 Wildland Fire Outlook and Wildland Fire Management Programs today. This comes just a few months after a so-called “fire funding fix” was included in the omnibus spending bill. Last year the costs to fight wildfires exceeded $2 billion. Click the […]
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With increased wildfires, utilities in California are trying to pass on the cost of damages to customers

by Sam Harnett
Jan 2, 2018
Lawmakers in California have introduced a bill to make it harder for state utilities to have customers cover the cost of fire damage.
Firefighters assess the scene as a house burns in the Napa wine region of California on Oct. 9, 2017.
JOSH EDELSON/ Getty Images
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The long recovery: 2017’s biggest natural disasters

Housing is still an issue in Santa Rosa's recovery from wildfires

by Kimberly Adams , Paulina Velasco and Katie Long
Dec 25, 2017
The city lost 5 percent of its housing stock, the mayor says, and was struggling with a shortage before the fire.
Smoke billows from a neighborhood that was destroyed by a fast moving wild fire on Oct. 9, 2017 in Santa Rosa, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Marketplace Tech Blogs

What tech can — and can't — do to prevent and put out wildfires

by Molly Wood and Kristin Schwab
Dec 14, 2017
A Berkeley lab is using drones and LiDAR to map fire fuel and understand how it burns.
Firefighters battle the Thomas blaze in California in 2017.
Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
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To send or not to send the emergency alert

by Jed Kim
Dec 7, 2017
Limitations mean officials have to be judicious with the warnings they send to phones.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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White House requests $44 billion in disaster aid from Congress. Now the negotiations begin

by Mitchell Hartman
Nov 20, 2017
Texas, Florida, and especially Puerto Rico say they need tens of billions of more in funding to help recovery efforts. But how do economic cost estimates from a disaster get turned into legislation?
U.S. Army soldiers pass out food, provided by FEMA, to residents in a neighborhood without grid electricity or running water on October 17, 2017 in San Isidro, Puerto Rico.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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The $2 billion question: Spend on fighting fires or preventing them?

by Adriene Hill and Shaheen Ainpour
Oct 24, 2017
A professor of fire ecology discusses the trade-offs in one of the costliest fire seasons in memory.
Renee Hernandez looks over the remains of her Coffey Park home that was destroyed by the Tubbs Fire on Oct. 23 in Santa Rosa, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Rising costs from Western wildfires may make policies harder to get in fire-prone areas

by Mitchell Hartman
Oct 12, 2017
Most homes lost in California wildfires likely covered by insurance.
An aerial view of homes that were destroyed by the Tubbs Fire on Thursday in Santa Rosa, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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