<p>Before the Santa Ana winds abated and slowed the pace of the wildfires in Southern California, anyone near a newspaper or television got a glimpse of how grave this last fire really was. For a region that lives every day with the peril of natural disaster, this one struck an even deeper chord of helplessness for residents.</p>
<p>The region’s alt weeklies have churned out some really impressive wildfire reporting. To echo the <a title=”San Diego CityBeat” href=”http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/?id=6304″ target=”_blank”>
<em>San Diego CityBeat</em>
</a>’s own admission, their coverage might not have the facts and figures of the exhaustive dailies, but the alt weeklies’ focus on individuals and narratives has set its articles apart. <i>CityBeat</i>’s Eric Wolff, for example, chronicled the conversion of San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium into a camp for evacuees, and Pat Sherman followed horse owners as they rushed to remove their animals from the fire’s path.</p>
<p>Check out some of the best alt weekly reporting here:</p>
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<p>”<a title=”The World on Fire” href=”http://www.laweekly.com/la-vida/a-considerable-town/the-world-on-fire/17524/” target=”_blank”>The World on Fire</a>,” by Judith Lewis, <i>L.A.</i>
<i> Weekly</i>
</p>
<p>”<a title=”Extreme Makeover: Spending the night at an evacuation site means a lesson in organization” href=”http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/?id=6305″ target=”_blank”>Extreme Makeover: Spending the night at an evacuation site means a lesson in organization</a>,” By Eric Wolff, <i>San Diego</i>
<i>CityBeat</i>
</p>
<p>”<a title=”Four-legged Evacuees: Horse owners scramble to find emergency boarding space” href=”http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/?id=6308″ target=”_blank”>Four-legged Evacuees: Horse owners scramble to find emergency boarding space</a>,” by Pat Sherman, <i>San Diego</i>
<i>CityBeat</i>
</p>
<p>
<a title=”An index to the <I>San Diego</I> <I>CityBeat</I> articles on the wildfires” href=”http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/?id=6304″ target=”_blank”>An index to the <i>San Diego</i>
<i>CityBeat</i> articles on the wildfires</a>.</p>
<p>
<i>
</i>Also check out:</p>
<p>
<a title=”A roundup of the ethnic media’s wildfire coverage at New America Media.” href=”http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=b5100c5213c00fe7203d2b065baa82ee” target=”_blank”>A roundup of the ethnic media’s wildfire coverage at <em>New America Media</em>.</a>
</p>
<p>–<em>Eric Kelsey</em>
</p>
<p>
</p>
