Most posts on this blog refer to stories in traditional press outlets, but here's one that might be considered "new media." Gus Joyce of Rancho Bernardo produced a nearly 10-minute video (which he posted on YouTube) about conflicts he found in recommendations to protect homes from fire and California building code.

In a folksy, non-combative tone, Joyce says he learned that California codes require home vent screening no smaller than a quarter-inch, but at the same time fire experts say quarter-inch mesh does not offer adequate protection from flying embers during wildfire.

One of the documents he found on the Internet, and described in his video, was...

Cooler weather in California is helping firefighters begin to get a handle on fires that have raged in the state for weeks. But concerns over the fires' consequences are sure to continue for months. Two articles over the weekend touched on such issues.

The Wine Spectator magazine raised the spector of 2008 vintage wines being imparted with a smoky character due to the fires.

"There are examples of smokiness from forest fires showing up in wines," the story quoted Roger Boulton, a viticulture and enology professor at UC Davis.

The article, by Augustus Weed, said chemicals in the smoke can coat grapes and be...

As 323 active fires in California threaten more than 10,000 homes, commercial buildings and other structures, the Sacramento Bee today offered a small consolation. Even though air quality is poor and the state has already spent more than $100 million fighting blazes, the situation isn't really anything abnormal.

The Bee story, citing research by UC Berkeley environmental scientists that was led by Scott Stephens, said the amount of land burning pales compared to acreage consumed historically, before Europeans settled in California.

"The scientists estimated that an average 4.4 million acres burned annually in California before 1800,...

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that trees killed by Sudden Oak Death are making the fire raging near Big Sur burn hotter, spread faster and loom more periously over firefighters. The story says hundreds of thousands of oak trees in the area have succombed to the disease caused by the fungus-like organism Phytophthora ramorum.

For the article, Times reporter Deborah Schoch spoke to UC Davis plant pathologist David Rizzo. He said SOD has "reached its apex" in Big Sur.

"You look in some of these canyons, and you'll see 70 percent, 80 percent of tanoaks are dead," Rizzo was quoted. "The...