That map, ominous as it was, offered the most graphic proof of the firefighters’ success, which, given the magnitude of their losses, was hard to appreciate from street level. Roughly three hundred municipal, Site, volunteer, and Forestry firefighters, operating across multiple fronts, often miles apart, in brutal heat, toxic air, and negligible visibility without rest or reinforcements, had managed to keep the fire out of the city’s most valuable and populous areas. As grievous as the damage was, and as ferocious the fire, there was, on May 4, still a city left to defend.
