Emerging Technology

SPOKANE, Wash. - Elon Musk’s recent update to Twitter, capping out how many posts accounts can read a day, poses a threat to the communication chain between emergency responders and journalists ahead of wildfire season.

“It’s a two-way street for sure,” Spokane County Fire District 8 Jay Wilkins said. “Not being able to see what’s coming in and not really being able to add context to what’s going out, it really makes it difficult on us.”

With the threat of accounts reaching their maximum post intake each day, leading to news stations possibly being unable to share quick and updated wildfire information - Wilkins recommends the community to sign up for “Alert Spokane” - a program that sends emergency alerts straight to your landline or cellphone. This will notify residents if they need to evacuate when a fire is burning.

https://www.khq.com/news/spokane-county-firefighters-criticize-twitter-update-for-hurting-wildfire-communication/article_0d35365a-19fb-11ee-9e59-9fa7e5b1c58d.html