How To Stream Cal Fire & Local TV News
Hey all - I know everything is crazy for you right now and it's really hard to keep track of the acronyms and agency updates.
Here is a simple list of CalFire and local TV livestreams
Our local TV news stations are putting together great recaps 2x a day. Here's an ongoing list of local video news with some tips.
Please let me know in the comments if there is a good video source I can add to this post.
CAL FIRE VIDEOS: PRESS BRIEFINGS
Cal Fire holds two press conferences daily, and publishes them to social platforms. I believe 6am and 6pm.
DIRECT LINKS:
https://twitter.com/CALFIRECZU
https://www.facebook.com/CALFIRECZUSanMateoSantaCruz
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCi7V54_W8fPvjGq7Mrod7w
Heroes all.
Santa Cruz Mountains Cal Fire Videos on Twitter
On Twitter, you can watch the LIVE video of the CAL FIRE press conferences. Stream in real time 2x a day.
Honestly, this has been laggy. If you wait for ten or so minutes after the briefing concludes, you will be able to watch the entire file from the beginning, which typically streams well.
Look for tweets like this on the CAL FIRE CZU Twitter account. (I believe mg mg mg is just placeholder/mistake copy; they are so tired.)
Santa Cruz Mountains Cal Fire Updates on Facebook
This stream typically works and you’ll be able to watch the full video file almost immediately after the briefings conclude. Look for posts like this and LIKE the Cal Fire CZU page to receive the most recent updates in your Facebook feed.
Santa Cruz Mountains Cal Fire Updates on YouTube
Cal Fire has started posting videos to their YouTube page.
Battalion Chief Mark Brunton explains some of the Fire Map symbols:
Red circle with three horizontal lines: High Hazard, stay away
Straight Brackets: Breaks between the “branches” of the fire e.g. |—|
Curved Brackets: Indicates separate “divisions” used internally to organize firefighter teams e.g. )(
Circle with an X: Traditionally the origin of the fire. These represent initial lightning fires where firefighters were first deployed. Still on the map for monitoring in “patrol status” (yes the XMEN logo)
Square with blue and white triangles: Incident command post, currently SkyPark in Scott’s Valley
Blue Dots: Water locations that helicopters use
It can be tricky to hear all the numbers, so I recommend Erin Bergren’s Twitter account. She has been live-tweeting the Cal Fire press releases, which is very helpful if you can’t get the videos to load. Look for her live tweet threads which will look a little like this:
Getting ready to livetweet the Cal Fire 6 am press conference, all updates will be in this thread. You can watch the briefing live on the Cal Fire CZU Facebook page or https://t.co/zQY4N2GDZa#CZULightningComplex #CZUFire #CZULightningComplexFire #CZUAugustLightningComplex
— Erin Bergren (@erin_bergren) August 23, 2020
CAL FIRE “INCIDENT UPDATES”
Look for PDFs from the Cal Fire account that look like this. This PDF does have squinty text, but it is a concise summary issued at least 2x a day. ALL evacuation orders are published here, so if you’d like to only check one source, this is it.
“TV NEWS”
KSBW 8 [link]
I now have a favorite weatherperson. KSBW is putting together great segments online and sharing graphics on social. But it can be kinda tricky to find the evening’s news broadcast online.
Subscribe to the KSBW YouTube for video segments
DIRECT LINKS:
https://www.ksbw.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/ksbw/videos
Tips on Streaming KSBW 8 on your Laptop
The Banner will alternate between “RED NOWCAST: LIVE NOW” during broadcast hours (a.m/p.m. news) and “BLUE NOWCAST: WATCH ON DEMAND” during off hours. Click on the red banner to watch the live news stream. It may be buggy.
Bookmark the “NOWCAST” here for the most recent video: https://www.ksbw.com/nowcast
Look for the little blue BREAKING NEWS HEADER at the top of the website, https://www.ksbw.com/. “WATCH ON DEMAND” will link you to a broadcast news segment that aired earlier in the day.
Other Tips:
Android users can download the app to watch the latest newscast.
If NOWCAST is buggy, you might want to wait until around 8pm-9pm. By then, the TV station has packaged the nightly broadcast and hosted it online. “WATCH ON DEMAND” files play much better. You can usually find them under MENU > LOCAL NEWS.
I cannot see a way to embed these videos in a website but you can use the social media icons to share the videos.
ON KSWB.com, go to the MENU > LOCAL NEWS and scroll to the bottom grid for LATEST VIDEO which will link you to individual video webpages.
Find Current YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/ksbw/videos
KION 5 [link]
Check on fires to the South with KION 5/46.
Use the WATCH button in their website header to watch a looping livestream of the most recent broadcast. The video WILL loop but has a weird graphic interstitial that takes a long time and will leave you questioning things.
Subscribe to the KION 5/46 YouTube for video segments.
DIRECT LINKS:
https://www.kion546.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9EEe4YaNpvDi1x95Jc4yOQ/videos
Tips for Streaming KION 5/46 on your Laptop
KION 5/36 also has a link to its TV news coverage in the top banner of their website.
Find Current YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9EEe4YaNpvDi1x95Jc4yOQ/videos
Other tips:
All live broadcasts stream live.
The most recent newscast will replay until the next newscast. T
The stream will occasionally display a graphic that says, "We'll be right back."
hey all … if you have a great source of video news to share, i’d love to add it to the list. comment below!
