GIS Solutions for Wildland Fire Suppressiond Fire Suppression

8/13/2019 GIS Solutions for Wildland Fire Suppressiond Fire Suppression

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GIS Solutions for Wildland Fire Suppression

Wildland Fire


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Applying GIS Technology to Wildland FireHaving the Right Information when You Need It Most

When it comes to wildre protectionlocal, state, and federal agencies

must be able to respond at amoments notice. Protecting life,property, and natural resourcesrequires comprehensive planning,mitigation, coordination, response,and recovery. Agencies mustcontinually improve service levelswithout increasing budgets.

ESRI and its public safety partnersunderstand the unique challengesyou facefrom simple resuppression to complex, large-scale incident response involving

numerous agencies. ESRIsgeographic information system(GIS) platform is designed to meetthe needs of the wildre protectionmission. It gives you the right toolsto make accurate decisions underany conditions.

Wildre agencies use GIS to

Determine areas vulnerable to intense re behavior.

Identify critical values at risk.

Predetermine re tactics and strategies.

Establish situational awareness through a GIS-basedcommon operating picture.

Produce key maps and analysis to support resuppression operations.

Identify and analyze re damage to developrehabilitation plans.

Inform the public of changing conditions such as roadclosures and threatened areas.

This mountain forest crown closure map was derived from light detection and ranging (lidar) data andverified by Casper Mountain Fire Protection District and Wyoming Forestry Division staff.

Planning GIS technology provides easy-to-use tools for maximizing all typesof information and data for planning requirements. GIS storesspatial information in a digital mapping environment that allowsre managers to quickly select and view data that can inuence rebehavior. Factors such as vegetation types, slopes, aspects, natural orman-made barriers, and historical weather patterns can be overlaidto determine re hazards based on modeling potential re behavior.The likelihood of wildre ignitions can be predicted by locatinghistorical re locations and identifying potential ignition sources(e.g., power lines, roads, industrial areas, housing areas). Additionalactions, such as vegetation modication, re prevention programs,and code compliance, can be planned and modeled using GIS.

MitigationGIS allows you to analyze, visualize, and prioritize values at risk, suchas housing developments, utility infrastructure, wildlife, and naturalor cultural resources. Many communities use GIS to analyze theirvulnerability to wildre. Information-rich maps help determine theactions necessary for developing effective wildre protection.


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Response Successful response starts with a map. Today, rstresponders have access to intelligent mapsmapsbuilt using databases and powerful modelingcapabilities. GIS provides rst responders withdetailed information when and where they need itfor a faster and safer response.

For example, with little technical skill required fromre personnel, a GIS application on a dispatchersconsole, vehicle-mounted computer, or handheldPDA will provide detailed information to answerquestions such as the following:

Where is the re located?

What is the best way to access the re?

What is the terrain and fuel type?

Where are the evacuation routes?

What are the hazards to responding units?

What are the values at risk?

Whose jurisdiction is the incident within?

Fire Decision Support ToolsIncreasing Situational Awareness and Providing Firefighter Safety

In addition to providing rst responders withdetailed initial response information, GIS supplies

incident commanders with overall situationalawareness including

Current weather conditions

Location of on-scene and responding units

Vegetation conditions

Predetermined protection priorities

Evacuation requirements

Suitable locations for staging and incidentcommand posts

Incident commanders use dynamic, real-timedata combined with incident data to expand

operations and respond to changing conditions.

ArcGIS shows lightning strike activity over the western United States. First responders use this datato determine ignition points.

The Fire Incident Mapping Tool extension for ArcGIS is used to manage and support wildfire incidents.


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Recovery GIS enables re personnel to conductrapid and accurate damage assessmentand rehabilitation requirements afteran emergency. Wildre staff membersuse GIS integration platforms for thecollection, analysis, and display ofvarious types of postincident data. GISand GPS-enabled laptops and PDAscan be used to collect accurate damageinformation from the eld. This data isintegrated into a central GIS databasefor comprehensive analysis and display.

The GIS map provides an overall viewof damage and recovery needs withlocation-specic photos and reportsincluding

Severity of damage to buildings

Status of infrastructure and utilities

Condition of landscapes

Impact on natural resources

This data can be analyzed for recoveryand rehabilitation funding requests. Itcan also be quickly shared with otheragencies and organizations.

After the Australia bush fires of 2009, this Internet map viewer was used to identify parce ls searchedduring recovery.

ArcGIS Explorer illustratesinformation collected in the field

identifying damaged structuresand includes the terrain profile

and site-specific photos.

PDAs and GPS enabled digital came ras wereused to document properties searched after the

Australia bush fires.


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GIS technology supports all aspects of the wildland re mission.ESRIs open, scalable architecture supports small, midsized, and

large agencies. Four distinct user groups have been identied thatbenet from GIS during a wildland re incident:

First RespondersFirst responders, crew bosses, strike team leaders, and helitackpersonnel often rely on spatial information, as well as theirknowledge of re behavior, to predict re spread and appropriatesuppression tactics. GIS supports the need to assess the situationand determine actions that ensure safety of personnel andeffective deployment.

Staff Officers Fire management staff ofcers and agency administrators maintainsituational awareness through a GIS-enabled common operatingpicture. The common operating picture offers a near real-time viewof events including

Location and status of incidents throughout the jurisdiction

Location of personnel and apparatus

Current weather conditions

Planned incidents and events in adjoining jurisdictionsAdding to the power of the common operating picture is mobileGIS capability. Using ArcGIS Server, personnel can access and viewthe common operation from any Web-enabled computing deviceas well as update information from the eld.

GIS Analysts GIS analysts are trained personnel who use ArcGIS softwareroutinely to support planning efforts and create maps to supportincident operations. Incident management teams assign reGIS specialists who provide critical support for wildland remanagement operations. These wildre professionals use GIS tomodel re behavior, analyze re effects, produce maps to support

the incident action plan, and support damage assessment andrecovery.

GIS Scalability for Public Safety Personnel

Chief Officers GIS provides command staff members with the intelligence theyneed to develop cost-effective incident objectives based on landmanagement goals and values at risk. GIS also enables incidentcommanders to quickly gain an understanding of events on theground and potential impacts to life, property, and resources.They can better track resources, assess changing re behavior, andmeasure progress toward meeting established objectives.

Learn more about GIS for wildland re suppression atwww.esri.com/publicsafety .


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About ESRI

For four decades, ESRI has beenhelping people make betterdecisions through management andanalysis of geographic information.Our culturally diverse staff workwith our business partners andhundreds of thousands of peoplewho use GIS to make a differencein our world.

A full-service GIS company, ESRIoffers support for implementingGIS technology from the desktopto enterprise-wide servers, onlineservices, and mobile devices.GIS solutions are exible andcustomizable to meet the needs of

all our users.

Our Focus

At ESRI, we focus on promotingthe value of GIS and its applicationsthroughout the world and pay closeattention to our users needs. Oursoftware development and servicesrespond to our customers withproducts that are easy to use, exible,and integrated. Our technology ismultidisciplinary, productive, andvaluable to our users.

We have a strong commitment toeducating our customers throughESRIs various training programs. ESRIis a socially conscious business andinvests heavily in issues regardingeducation, conservation, sustainable

development, and humanitarian affairs.

Contact ESRI

1-800-GIS-XPRT (1-800-447-9778)Phone: 909-793-2853Fax: 909-793-5953 [email protected]

www.esri.com

Of ces worldwide www.esri.com/locations

ESRI 380 New York StreetRedlands, California 92373-8100 USA

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GIS Solutions for Wildland Fire Suppressiond Fire Suppression