Thousands of firefighters were still battling several major wildfires in Southern California on Tuesday – just one day in a massive effort to get the fires roaring across 127,000 acres under control. While damage has been extensive, Los Angeles County Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Bryant noted in a CNN interview that “there have been hundreds of homes saved by firefighters in this effort.”

Unfortunately though, for every hero in the field, there are numerous victims also dealing with the catastrophe firsthand.

Broadband Internet is helping those on both sides.

As of Aug. 30, Verizon has donated 130 cell phones, 55 mobile broadband cards for Internet access and two high-speed Internet connections to firefighters, first responders and evacuees. Wireless handsets, wireless broadband modems and other devices have also been supplied. The devices are helping those in the field better communicate and coordinate efforts, and giving those dealing with loss a means to communicate with loved ones and notify them of their situation.

With so much manpower devoted to stopping fires that sweep across such a large area, communications – particularly broadband communications – are going to play a key role in allowing emergency personnel to minimize damages and save lives.

Not too many people are aware that about it, but laptops and mobile devices have been standard in emergency vehicles for almost a decade now. Information sent to these devices from a city’s dispatch center may include the address, caller identification, information received from the caller and maps of buildings and surrounding areas.

In California, the Ventura County Fire Department launched a state-of-the-art Fire Communications Center in 2006, which placed a mobile computer and GPS modem in each of the department’s 125 emergency vehicles. This radically changed the way resources were allocated to the scene of an emergency by allowing operators to locate and dispatch vehicles according to their actual proximity to an incident, improving the delivery of fire services and EMS throughout the county.

Firefighters from departments across Ventura County are among more than 2,500 responders battling the “Station Fire” – one of the many wildfires emergency personnel are fighting to contain. Broadband communications are helping them do it.

These facts are just a few of the answers to the big broadband question, “So what?” At the Knight Center of Digital Excellence, wea big part of our job is to help Knight communities understand the value of broadband Internet – to show them how to answer the “so whats” in their efforts to connect.

The ongoing efforts in Southern California highlight the heroism displayed by emergency personnel across our nation every day. We’re also seeing how broadband communications are helping them save lives and restore a little order to the lives of those touched by disaster.