How The San Diego Union-Tribune  reported this story about the city of San Diego's brush management program:

To determine whether the city's brush policies offer adequate fire protection, the newspaper examined inspection records, policy proposals, e-mails and environmental reports from the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the Park and Recreation Department and the Development Services Department.

The documents showed that city officials knew brush-laden areas needed more thinning, but faced with growing budget problems, the city couldn't afford to hire new staffers or inspectors to make sure the work was done.

Using spreadsheets provided by the city, the newspaper created maps to compare the areas the city considered the most fire-prone with data the state maintains on local fire dangers. The paper also used maps of the Witch Creek and Guejito fires to determine the path of the flames in Rancho Bernardo.

This story is based on more than two dozen interviews with elected officials, city administrators, deputy fire marshals and residents who live near San Diego's canyons and wild lands.

The reporting, writing, mapping, editing and production of the story took two months.