Finding more bushfire news will be easier on Google Maps – and not just for those nearby.
last year (in the US, ndt) Google added More fire news on maps and in the search bar, but only if you’re looking for a single fire or are driving in the direction of a flame-affected area, like the Caldor bonfire in California pictured above. Now the Maps app will display information for all the different fires at a custom level.
If you tap on the Map types icon, which looks like a diamond superimposed on another, you’ll find a shiny new icon between Passcode, Public Transport, and Covid. It will be called “fires” (forest fires, so).
Once activated, all running wildfires will appear, no matter where you are on the map. Covered area (affects the US only, so) extends from the northwest coast of the Pacific Ocean to the Mexico-California border. Clicking on the selected fire shows more details about it and the exact size of the affected area.
Thanks to data from the National Interagency Fire Center, evacuation details, locations, and emergency numbers will be displayed along with other information, such as the level of fire containment and the number of acres that emit smoke. In the future, it is hoped that context feedback, such as fire news, will be obtained from the map as well Expected And being able to read not only the scale of the disaster, but also how serious it is of the most destructive.
The new type of wildfire map is only available for US Android users at the moment. For iOS and desktop users, they will have to wait until the end of October. At the end of the year, the option will be expanded to Australia.
