On Aug. 8, a wildfire burst from the hills on Maui and raged through the city of Lahaina, killing up to 100 people in the nation’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century. In order to explain how the fire killed so many people, it was necessary to show where the fire started and how it swept through the city. This required visualizing where the fire traveled, how powerful winds pushed it along, how escape routes were cut off and what lay in the fire’s path.
The New York Times made use of new 3-D mapping technology, along with video evidence, data and interviews, to reconstruct the movement of the wildfire and the fate of some of those who found themselves in its deadly path. The story, built around the analysis and curation of videos posted on social media, highlighted key failures by officials and a lack of effective emergency response systems, which left thousands trapped.
