KPBS loses transmitter in wildfire; music station lends its channel to keep news on-air

San Diego's KPBS-FM lost its main transmitter this morning as a wildfire burned Mt. San Miguel. By 8:30 a.m., its all-news coverage of the region's multiple fires moved from 89.5 to 94.9 MHz, using a music station's frequency lent by Lincoln Financial Media Co. KPBS uses a full toolbox of web services to help, including web streaming, Google Maps to show evacuation areas and shelter locations, Twitter to report developments as quickly as possible and Flickr to show photos shot by listeners. The fires have chased 500,000 people from their homes in the San Diego area, Reuters reported.