Sierra Vista Herald Website draws 70,000 page views
Photo by Mark Levy HERALD/REVIEW
An online effort that began Sunday night developed immediate community interest and resulted in the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review website playing a vital role helping residents threatened by the Monument Fire.
A fast-moving wildfire that erupted in the Coronado National Memorial in southern Arizona Sunday afternoon quickly spread to a major blaze, becoming one of the largest in Arizona in a matter of hours.
Firefighters and the U.S. Forest Service quickly evacuated more than 100 residents when flames threatened homes and nearby communities.
Utilizing the Herald/Review website, residents were able to obtain up-to-the minute information on the location of the fire, neighborhoods being evacuated, which roads were closed, and where people could go for assistance.
"The ease of use, and the speed of our website was an absolute key," said Herald/Review Managing Editor Eric Petermann.
"We were doing updates every hour, uploading photos from our readers, and building traffic as the fire developed. It was gratifying that people turned to us to find out what was going on," Petermann said.
The traffic continued Tuesday, eventually resulting in more than 24,000 unique visitors and more than 70,000 page views.