NATION

Scanner junkie fuels #ThomasFire feed 1 tweet at a time

Jason Pohl
The Republic | azcentral.com
Smoke and flames burn around the gates to a house on top of a mountain in Toro Canyon near Santa Barbara, California, Monday night, December 11, 2017.  Members of Cal Fire were in a structure protection mode as winds had died down and the fire’s growth had slowed dramatically.

VENTURA COUNTY — The emergency radio chatter sounded different than the thousands of other calls Thomas Gorden has overheard from his Simi Valley home. 

Wildfires aren't supposed to be that large before the first crews arrive. Firefighters accustomed to wildland responses sounded particularly tense as they relayed what they were seeing to each other and to dispatchers the night of Dec. 4.

Fifty acres.

Rapid rate of spread. 

Fanned by winds roaring through the hills near Steckel Park in Santa Paula.

"I could tell by the way there were talking on the radio," Gorden said. "I knew from the first engine that was going to arrive, when they could already see it from their station and they were several miles away, it was going to be a big fire." 

Local TV stations weren't yet posting updates on the soon-to-be-named Thomas Fire.

The Ventura County Fire Department's public information accounts confirmed there was a fire but posted only three tweets in the first two hours — a time when it ballooned to 2,500 acres and began drawing local and national attention. 

People would be desperate for details amid a dearth of live updates in a rapidly evolving situation. The fire ate through vegetation at a rate of an acre per second and raced toward people's homes and populated areas. 

So, like he did for the past decade for small fires and car wrecks, Gorden went to his computer. He opened a Twitter account. And he started tweeting what he was hearing over the firefighter scanner channels, establishing himself as an pseudo-authority on what would grow into the fourth-largest wildfire in California history. 

"That Monday night, I did not sleep," Gorden said. "I stayed up all night. Because I knew that people were desperate for information."

His followers grew from 4,500 to 19,000 in a week. Among them: a Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times journalist, a CBS News national correspondent — and the  public information officer account whose job he sought to replicate. 

By day, the 21-year-old Gorden works for a company installing chair lifts for disabled people.

The night of the Thomas Fire, he went to work under his Twitter handle: @VCScanner

'A hobby of mine'

A soft-spoken Southern Californian, Gorden has always wanted to work in public safety. But he has back problems that quashed that dream, he told The USA TODAY Network in an interview this week. 

His parents bought him an emergency scanner when he was 11 years old. While many families keep a television on in the background, the constant chatter of that emergency radio was the white noise of Gorden's childhood.

He started the @VCScanner Twitter account in 2011, embracing a chance to connect with his neighbors. He wanted to be a part of the action, and this was the easiest way to do just that. 

"It's just grown into a hobby of mine ever since," he said.  

He started sharing updates about car wrecks, house fires and police activity — incidents that might not make the local newspaper or website but no doubt would catch interest from rubberneckers and neighbors. 

Gorden never imagined he would be respected for transmitting public safety news during one of the state's most destructive wildfires.

Not without problems

Live-tweeting emergencies is among the darkest — and potentially most dangerous — of internet activites. 

With keyboard warriors at the ready, and with web services streaming police and fire radio traffic to computers and cellphones around the world, anyone can post a detail that lacks context or could reveal law enforcement tactics during dynamic emergencies.

A news reporter came under fire after transmitting tactical details about a shooter's location inside a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic in 2015. And in a race to report details about mass shootings or emergencies, case after case shows early reports are not always 100 percent accurate and actually can be harmful.  

Wildfires are very different events than active shooters. Still, many of the same issues arise, said Micki Trost, communications director for the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

MORE:Eye in the sky: Military Reaper drone shooting real-time video over Thomas Fire

Trost studies the role of social media and public safety during emergencies.

While real-time updates from civilian Twitter users can be helpful, they also can create "noise" that can be taken out of context by people not trained in firefighting tactics or emergency management. That's because a lot of what is said on fire radios ends up being brainstorming sessions between responders, not necessarily information people can or should be using to make life-or-death decisions, Trost said.

Emergency updates that come from verified accounts have been vetted, but erroneous comments overheard on the scanner and transmitted to the world can go viral. That can confuse the public in harm's way and distract from the verified safety messaging trained communicators are trying to transmit.

"It's the possibility of the misinformation, of information being out of context," Trost said. "Instead of the communications staff focusing on providing the updates, they now have to make sure they're correcting what's being pushed out there. It's just wrong enough that it could cause harm."

Gorden said he is aware of the risks. 

The biographical section for @VCScanner has a disclaimer: "All tweets are unofficial." And Gorden and has a message pinned atop his profile declaring: "Some incidents on this account are delayed in order to protect officer safety."

It's not a perfect solution. But it's more than what many scanner junkies on Twitter do. 

In cities across the country, people behind so-called "scanner accounts" have cultivated a following — usually no more than a few thousand users. 

But as happened in the Thomas Fire, @VCScanner's following grew to rival that of the local fire department's verified public information Twitter account.

His influence was enormous.

So was the risk.

That said, if users post confirmed details of what they hear with context and direction to other resources, communities can benefit during major natural disasters. Since the phenomena likely won't ease anytime soon, Trost urged residents to consider what they're hearing or reading — and scanner junkies to weigh why they're tweeting everything they're hearing.

"Just sharing because I have access isn't a good reason to share it," Trost said. 

@VCScanner's Thomas Fire tweets

His first came at 6:33 p.m. local time. 

"Santa Paula: Reported brush fire at Thomas Aquinas College. E20 have visual several miles out. Upgrading to a 2nd alarm." 

Two minutes later, the urgency was growing: "Update: Fire is possibly above Steckel Park. Approximately 50 acres with rapid rate of spread. Homes threatened." 

Dire warnings began 90 minutes later with Gorden writing "2,500+ acres with long range spotting. Evacuate the area immediately. This fire is moving dangerously fast."

He reported scanner chatter about power outages and school closures. He relayed live feeds from news helicopters and linked to volunteer rescue groups. Posts about evacuation centers and resource needs took off into Tuesday.

MORE:Southern California fires are destructive and unprecedented — and a sign of things to come

And as he pumped out tweets by the minute, he directed his rapidly growing base of information-seekers to authorities on the ground. 

In a time when there was a need for any and all information, Gorden seems to have filled the void in a generally responsible, well-intentioned way. 

His inbox blew up to the point where he said he was getting hundreds of replies and messages asking about certain streets, evacuations, weather conditions and warnings.

As emergency crews scrambled to get a handle on the disaster, and journalists worked to gauge what level of disaster coverage the Thomas Fire would garner and where to direct resources, Gorden assumed his role of communication conveyor.

He didn't always have the answer, and he didn't know the insight behind everything he was hearing. But Gorden was candid and personable. That's what people needed as they tried to wrap their head around such a fast-moving fire. 

MORE:Inmates battle to save famed rose garden from Thomas wildfire

"I've been working off very little sleep because I know people are desperate for information," he said in an interview. "I didn't really think of it as a public service until some of the messages I was getting from people."

Some worried about relatives or their property.

Others doubted the importance of evacuating, at which point he warned them to leave. 

The praise poured in.

"Thank you for your tweets! Got me through the night," one user wrote, replying to a message Gorden posted as his own residence came under threat from the Rye Fire. 

Another user, Mary Ann Gallo, expressed similar sentiments.

"I must add to the chorus of gratitude! I am in Los Angeles, but my brother lives alone in Oak View. Your tweets have offered the most up-to-date, clearest & most useful information. You've provided a tremendous service. THANK YOU."

Some people have offered to send him money or Christmas gifts as a token of their appreciation. 

"I don't want any of that," he said sharply in an interview, hoping instead people donate to an appropriate charity or relief group. 

What about the actual PIO? 

At 19,000 followers by midday Thursday, @VCscanner rivaled the 20,300 followers for the Ventura County Fire Department's public information officer account.

The department has published dozens of verified, confirmed tweets daily about the fire's growth, crew efforts and firefighting strategy — context often lacking in Gorden's posts. 

Fire officials are aware of his online presence — and others like him. They generally don't have a problem as long as the information is factual. 

"I wouldn't say he necessarily hurts anything," said Steve Swindle, a department spokesman. "What could possibly be hurtful is people who put out misinformation. Social media is a wildfire in and of itself." 

In the end, Swindle said, "They're citizens helping citizens." 

Gorden doesn't plan on working for the chair installation company forever.

But he's unsure what's next. Maybe he'll pursue a degree in emergency management, he said. Maybe become a public information officer.

As he put it, he has "some big decisions" to make. 

But the Thomas Fire is still burning out of control. 

That's his priority, he said. 

"I'll keep updating as long as the fire keeps doing its thing." 

Reach the reporter at 602-444-8515, jpohl@azcentral.com or on Twitter: @pohl_jason. 

READ MORE:

Arizona crews deployed to help fight Southern California wildfires

California wildfires: San Diego County evacuees face aftermath of Lilac Fire

California wildfires: What we know about the Creek, Thomas, Lilac and other fires