KPBS Midday Edition

Report: More Than 88,000 Buildings In San Diego Face Highest Risk Of Wildfire

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Marissa Cabrera / News Producer, KPBS Midday Edition

Published December 19, 2018 at 8:35 AM PST

This story was published more than 5 years ago.

A screenshot of a map of San Diego created by the Los Angeles Times that shows concentrations of buildings in the highest-risk wildfire zones.

Report: More Than 88,000 Buildings In San Diego Face Highest Risk Of Wildfire

Report: More Than 88,000 Buildings In San Diego County Face Highest Risk Of Wildfire GUEST: Ben Welsh, data editor, The Los Angeles Times

A new analysis by the Los Angeles Times finds that there are more than 1.1 million buildings in the state in areas at the highest risk for wildfire. More than 88,000 of those buildings are in San Diego.

The findings come after the state's most destructive and deadly wildfire in the northern California town of Paradise.

As San Diego and communities across the state work to balance the need for new housing with the risk of building in wildfire-prone areas, the Times' analysis raises the question about what should be done to protect existing homes in high-risk fire zones.

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Ben Welsh, editor of the data desk at the Los Angeles Times, discusses their findings Wednesday on Midday Edition.

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KPBS Midday Edition Wildfires

Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Marissa Cabrera

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Marissa Cabrera worked as a producer for KPBS Midday Edition and had previously served as a Newscast Producer for KPBS' Morning Edition. Before joining KPBS she reported on Vatican affairs, social, and cultural issues in Rome, Italy. She also contributed to a documentary on sex abuse in the Catholic Church. Marissa has worked as a multimedia journalist at various news stations in San Diego and Monterey as well as Columbia, Missouri. Marissa graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism.

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