Google Maps now shows a lot more information about wildfires

Raging blazes in both California and Colorado make Google's new wildfire warning features all the more relevant. 

The company's crisis response team released an updated alert system for wildfires in Google Search and on Google Maps on Thursday. Instead of just a pin marking where a fire is located, a full boundary is now drawn out. The SOS Alerts that Google's been posting during disasters since 2017 are now "a much richer, visual experience" when flames start spreading, said Ruha Devanesan, Google Search's crisis response product partnerships lead, during a recent media briefing.

Now, when you look up directions or search a location on Google Maps the exact boundaries of a fire will show upGoogle's Earth Engine takes publicly available satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and visualizes it on the map. NOAA uses infrared sensors that are constantly scanning for literal hotspots. These "hot pixels" help Google decide where the boundaries of the fire is located. Once verified, the information is posted to Google Maps and will show up for any searches for "fire near me" or similar queries.  Read more...

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