In late May, a wildfire swept through the Santa Cruz Mountains only a few miles from Cindy’s RL ranch. Many fire trucks and helicopters came to town, along with hundreds of firefighters. In the weeks following, more fires broke out threatening more homes and lives. More recently, a freak lightning storm caused four fires, which came much closer to our RL home.
We built California Wildfire Virtual Base Camp to demonstrate what was going on in our RL for a month. Trucks, helicopters, gear, food, and emergency medical props were set up to demonstrate the emergency response. A slideshow of photos was compiled, and the video screen was updated with new video reports daily.
Secondlife’s ERST and SLFD groups assisted with the virtual build and the display was announced to the public. The California Wildfires Virtual Base Camp is a tribute to the firefighters, pilots, and other support who risk their lives to save people’s homes and animals in real life.
Aerial view of Base Camp
Fire trucks offroad in rough terrain and helicopters work together
Tired and hungry firefighters take a break to eat and rest
Inworld video screen plays updated news reports from the web
Aerial view shows strong winds causing fast moving wildfire.
Click here or on picture to watch video about the hundreds of horses and other animals evacuated from the Summit Fire (You have to watch commercial first, sorry)
Visit The CalFires Website
featuring Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Special thanks to:
lilemms Bebb, Co-Director of ERST in Secondlife
ERST – SL Emergency Response Special Training RP Group
Firefighter actors Johnnie, Moto, Cindy, and Lorianna
SLFD – The SL Fire Department RP group
Wakatech’s Tubeorama & YouTube
KRON San Francisco
KGO San Francisco
KCRA Sacramento
KSBW Salinas
The Bolero Group 