Throughout much of Montana___s countryside the face of wildland firefighting has changed considerably in the past few years. In many other areas of the country such as Southern California homes have stood in the hills and mountains for decades but here homes in what used to be wild or remote landscape are a relatively new challenge from a fire service standpoint.
The highway corridor along the Rock Creek Valley which runs north from our district toward Billings has in just 13 years exploded with subdivisions and roads (4___5 percent growth within our district). In the past 5 years alone where there used to be farmland and/or forests approximately 50 new subdivisions have been built; houses are seemingly popping up out of the ground. The situation is most obvious after dark when there___s an alarming amount of light pollution where there used to be only a few security lights at the occasional rancher___s home.
The major problems: These subdivisions have one way in and one way out as well as narrow roads that won___t allow two vehicles to pass each other. One particular subdivision in our district lies in a small heavily wooded valley. No one would guess there are about 100 homes hidden back there.
These problematic areas have prompted my department to use technology to aid us in both fire prevention and firefighting/structure protection.
Tech Tools of the Trade
Today there___s a multitude of products on the market that may not have been designed with firefighting in mind but they___re incredibly useful for departments that want a complete understanding of what they___re up against when battling a WUI fire. Following I list a few that my department now uses regularly.
GPS
My department introduced technology into its wildland/urban interface (WUI) operations via the use of handheld GPS units. Although they___re quite convenient they do have limitations. A GPS unit tells you how to get from Point A to Point B but it doesn___t provide topography information and/or directions in between the two points such as turns bridges landmarks etc.
Additionally until recently we had only a few handheld units department-wide. But locating a fire for incoming crews and marking structures as waypoints is helpful only if every responding crew carried a unit.
As a result we recently outfitted each of our Type 5 and Type 6 engines tenders and WUI engines with dashboard-mounted GPS units. Each of these units as well as the personal units of some of our members has USGS maps of south central Montana downloaded onto them. So now when a latitudinal/longitudinal waypoint is established command can broadcast it over the radio and everyone involved in the incident can locate the point on their GPS which allows them to locate a structure they___ve never been to with relative ease.
In some cases we set the incident command base as an initial waypoint on the GPS units. Doing this makes it easier for each individual engine to be sent to a certain area on the fireline from the command base and it allows them to more easily report back their location periodically for accountability purposes or to relay any concerns. Although these engines communicate with command all other responding engines can receive the information being relayed via the respective radio frequency.
Da Bus
In addition to our new GPS units our department operates a mobile command center in the form of a bus (widely referred to as ___Da Bus___). Bought by our department 1 1___2 years ago it originally functioned as a children___s mobile computer learning center so it was relatively easy to convert to a command center; all it really needed was a bench seat with storage underneath and magnetic dry-erase boards. Today it___s equipped with computers a satellite hook-up for Internet access a Kestrel weather meter and of course a GPS unit and radios. Using this equipment incident commanders can print out large detailed area maps inside the bus then tack the maps to the outside of the bus for personnel briefings.
GIS
On large incidents we often use the bus to establish an incident command center that___s typically staged at check-in. From there personnel can access a geographic information system (GIS) as well as GPS maps.
Through GIS programs such as RedZone a program tailor-made for WUI and wildland firefighting we can create what___s called a ___base layer ___ which consists of either a topographical map or an aerial photograph of the area. We then overlay additional layers in three file formats: line polygon and point. With the point files we mark waypoints such as structures water sources etc; with the line files we mark roads fence lines etc; and with polygon files we can outline an area such as the fire___s perimeter and track fire containment progress. Note: This process may seem a bit lengthy or tedious especially for a 5-acre stubble fire with few or no homes threatened but anyone who___s worked a larger incident knows that having all pertinent information in the palm of your hand is much more efficient than sending resources on a wild goose chase all over the countryside to establish a database.
By creating a map of the incident area we save ourselves valuable time effort and resources as we can generate accurate information in a matter of minutes. We can even click on some residential structures on the map to acquire information such as the owner___s name and contact information. Sometimes a picture of the home is available for command to describe to the engines in the field. Waypoints can also be color-coded for defensibility or triage purposes. All of this information helps us access and defend residential structures before we___ve been to the actual location of the home.
From command___s perspective GIS technology helps improve overall supervision and management of incidents. For example command can request each engine out in the field to report their latitude/longitude. With this information command can then locate each engine on their GIS map inside the command bus and then tell them to head west for instance on a specific road and report back when they reach a certain coordinate to confirm the location of a particular structure.
Responding engines no longer need to describe the structure or anything else they see because command is already looking at a picture of the structure on their computer screen in the bus. Command also already knows the location of each engine and can view any surrounding topographical features.
Our district is half mountainous half open grassland with a mixture of fuels. The mountains are heavily timbered and the lowlands are broken country with hills and valleys. Houses are sometimes built in areas that many of us are unfamiliar with so without GIS mapping technology we wouldn___t be able to find a lot of these places easily. Now we can access aerial photos from the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and/or Google Earth (in 3-D) and layer lines representing roads via enhanced 911___s road network (in 2-D).
GIS technology also helps us increase overall safety on the job. Using polygon files we can designate safety zones; with line files we can establish escape routes; and point files allow us to determine anchor points. If necessary we can rendezvous at the safety zone hunker down and wait while the flames pass. All of this information can be transmitted to individual engines working the incident and crews can then enter the coordinates into their GPS units.
GPS Mics
We___ve been experimenting with Infinity___s GPS mics that attach to their two-way radios. These handy little devices send and receive information when the operator keys the mic. We keep one of these units at the command post attached to the computer. Information such as fire perimeter structures water sources etc. are transmitted to and from the GPS mic via RedZone software then transmitted to other units by simply keying the mic.
Another cool feature of the mic: its auto-transmit capability. Each mic can be set to emit a signal every 10 seconds so that everyone including the command post can view their location on the fireline. So as an engine drives the fireline it also passes on fire perimeter information; both sending and receiving information becomes automatic (hence the name of the feature). As a result the potential for verbal misinformation and transposing of coordinate numbers are no longer issues. Note: This information can also be automatically added to the base layer map on command___s computer.
The screens on the GPS mics are still a bit dated reminiscent of my first-generation GPS unit from the late 1990s. If these mics had the features of my newer Garmin Etrex they___d be that much more useful and could even negate the usefulness of a separate GPS unit altogether.
Remember: Because a GPS unit is an extension of a basic compass and map it___s not a substitute for a basic understanding of orienteering.
The Weather Meter
Likewise the Kestrel 2500 (4500 in the command bus) weather meter is not a sling psychrometer or a substitute for spot weather forecasts and National Weather Service forecasts. Rather it___s a very useful tool when used in conjunction with a basic understanding of meteorology. However it___s limited in that it___s very specific to where it___s being used and doesn___t give a picture of what the weather is doing 20 miles away which can be pretty important if a front is heading your way.
As an afternoon progresses and the weather heats up an engine boss will announce the weather from their location every half hour. They will report on temperature wind speed and direction humidity and the time which can tell us a lot about what to expect in the next few hours and can be done by simply holding the Kestrel into the wind. Both responding engines and Da Bus can record the data and help us identify trends in weather patterns.
Tech Troubles
One down side to technology on the WUI fireline: Technological advances happen so fast we can___t always keep up with them! Software often becomes outdated before we can become adept at using it. There___s also a vast amount of hardware and software out there on the market and it can be overwhelming to try to figure out which are right for your department.
Another problem: If neighboring departments and agencies aren___t using compatible software or equipment we won___t all be on the same page which can lead to confusion and gaps in communication. Lastly there___s no ___one-size-fits-all___ solution for any department. We___re still using and experimenting with multiple mapping technologies software and media to meet our needs as they arise and evolve. These growing pains can be eased through strong interagency cooperation and networking within your mutual-aid group. Being on the same page together can also save a lot of money.
Need Incentive?
If your department has already started experimenting with different types of technology you know it can be overwhelming and costly with regard to both money and staffing hours. One way to simplify things is to train one or two individuals on how to operate GPS units. Our department offers a great incentive program based on annual training hours call responses and extra-curricular activities. In return we offer our members some big-ticket items each year such as Kestrels and GPS units. Many of our members carry these tools in their line packs.
Keep in mind: GPS GIS and other technologies adapted for the fire service might not be the answer for every department; quite frankly had my department acquired all of this technology at once we___d have been overwhelmed. For us it___s been a process that evolved over the course of several years and required much painstaking research. That said if your department doesn___t use technology to help mitigate fire but would like to start I suggest purchasing a few basic GPS units and perhaps a weather meter or two for your engine companies. These items are generally user-friendly and will ease you into using other more complex gadgets.
Conclusion
I must admit I was initially very skeptical of the usefulness of expensive technological equipment especially on the fireline. And when our chief suggested that we purchase a bus to serve as a command center I thought he was crazy. Now however we___ve used the equipment with a fair amount of success in and around our district and in training scenarios and I___ve changed my mind. The bus has proven to be as useful a tool as the equipment housed in it.
Remember: With the increasing number of WUI fires comes new challenges therefore we must be ready to meet those challenges with new ways of firefighting. One way to do this is through the use of technology. It may seem intimidating time-consuming and overwhelming at first but once your department figures out which items work best for its response area as my department did both your department and your community will reap the benefits.
