Novel New Source of Help For LA Fire Victims

WASHINGTON - Jan. 16, 2025 - PRLog -- Thousands of people whose houses were in the several zones ravaged by the various Los Angeles fires still have no idea, more than a week later, whether their homes were somehow largely spared, totally destroyed, or something in between, and they are waiting many hours if not overnight in cars hoping to be able to possibly just get a quick look at their former residences.

But officials are very reluctant to let many residents return, pointing out the very serious dangers of some fires or embers still smouldering, downed electrical power lines, explosive natural and propane gas escaping, the ever-present concern about looting, and now mudslides.

There have been a few suggestions about government officials trying to provide videotapes of the fire zones to former residents, but this is a very complex problem for anyone without extensive experience to try to undertake.

But fortunately there is one entity which could provide extensive views of all streets in the affected areas, probably in less than one or two days, says professor John Banzhaf, an MIT-educated inventor.

Google has successfully used its specialized vehicles known as Street View cars to provide house-by-house and street-by-street views of virtually all of the U.S. The cars are equipped with multiple high-resolution cameras arranged in a panoramic rig on the roof to take pictures.  At the same time, the vehicles automatically collect GPS data to precisely determine their location at any given time.

Banzhaf points out that all of these vehicles, systems, and know how already exist, and have proven to operate virtually flawlessly, something the governments of Los Angeles and/or California could not possible do in months, much less weeks or days.

Such pictures would also enable government officials to better estimate the damage, and for the insured and their company to begin the process of making and documenting claims, argues Banzhaf.

Although clearly not as satisfying as permitting former residents to actually return, providing street-by-street Google images of former and existing homes is far better than providing them with no information, and/or requiring them to remain overnight in their cars waiting for a possible chance to be permitted a brief visit to their former homes, says Banzhaf.

Banzhaf reports that he has contacted key executives at Google, and asked the corporate giant to either drive or fly a sufficient number of Street View cars to cover the fire zones in a day.  He also requested that Google provide the personnel and support equipment necessary to capture the images, and to make them on-line as promptly as possible.

http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf