reality is, some of the folks who run those pages are near where quite a few of the local major incidents have started over the years. They listen to scanners, and they look out their window. More than once you learn about a start from them before you do from any other source including the county. So during fire season, I check on them every hour or so. Them and the CHP.
During the Chariot fire, the first photos were posted by neighbors. We knew it was bad from those photos...
Some residents are also in really back areas of the county where they do what they can to stay in contact. The best way to look at it, would be an old fashioned phone tree for an emergency.
Use good sense, and quite a bit of salt for anything else. But fires, they are quite good. Like twitter, you also learn which poster is good and which one is not.
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