Using Mobile Mapping to Manage Wildfires

February 1, 2006 By: Tom Patterson

A 30-year veteran of land management discusses his experience using electronic maps and their GIS data in the field to fight wildfires.

The application of geospatial technologies to wildfire management is not a new phenomenon. As a 30-year veteran of public service land management, I've taken an active role in using the latest mobile GIS technology during and after firestorms. Most recently, I've put to use an important technological development that's one the best tools for fire management since the shovel: the handheld computer.

It wasn't too long ago that firefighters had to carry a full-sized 10-pound notebook computer, a two-pound Rockwell PLGR (Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver), a cell phone, extra cables, batteries, and an external antenna in order to provide incident commanders with up-to-date information. Recently, the devices have grown smaller. Handheld computers now run mobile mapping software and contain lighter-weight GPS receivers, bringing the total weight down to about one pound, and they're being used successfully by firefighters in the wildfire-prone western states (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Firefighters are using handheld computers to obtain more up-to-date information, in more variations, than is possible with paper maps. Here, at the Poppet Flat prescribed fire near the San Bernardino National Forest in June 2005, a firefighter is recording the fire's ever-changing boundaries.

Tracking a Moving Target

The importance of having up-to-date, real-time information about the status of a wildfire cannot be overstated. This was particularly true during the 2003 firestorms in Southern California. The best example happened during the Grand Prix Fire: As the fire was coming down off the mountain and moving across the city limits of Rancho Cucamonga, I was able to download and display the current perimeter shapefile on a handheld computer and use accurate fire information that was only 10 seconds old. The paper map that the structure group supervisor carried, which had been distributed during the morning briefing, was more than 10 hours old, and it depicted the fire's edge as still on the ridgetop.

Figure 2. After the fire is out, the handheld computer enables mapping of the burned area with submeter accuracy, as demonstrated at this burned site near Joshua Tree National Park in California.

We accomplished the retrieval of the current information by establishing a peer-to-peer wireless local area network connection between a GPS mapping helicopter's onboard computer and the handheld computer I carried on the fireline. I had to wait until the fire had been completely flown and the helicopter was within a quarter-mile of me before I could connect. Although this near–real-time information capability proved extremely useful, it wasn't until the Paradise Fire in Morongo Valley, California, two years later that I witnessed the geospatial information transmitted through the radio in true real-time speed.

What started as a structure fire escaped into the vegetation and burned 3,200 acres; seven homes were destroyed. Amid the chaos, that radio transmission enabled us to keep receiving data from our airborne unit. As the position of the helicopter was tracked (once per second) on an onboard handheld computer, the same information was being relayed to a computer in the command post, where it was displayed just two seconds later.

This electronic map depicts the area affected by the Paradise Fire in Morongo Valley, California, in June 2005. The burned area was mapped by firefighters piloting GPS-equipped helicopters and cars.

During the initial attack phase of a wildfire, it is often difficult to obtain detailed information from an outdated paper map. Using GIS, current information is available immediately and can be viewed under extreme conditions. GIS users can produce maps that indicate transportation routes, facilities, air hazards, spread prediction, operations, and other geographic information that is important to the incident command.

Faster, Safer, More Accurate

With the Thales Navigation MobileMapper CE,I now have a rugged, waterproof, handheld GPS unit loaded with ArcPad mobile mapping software and 2 GB of GIS information for the relevant area. The result is better mobility, convenience, accuracy, and integration than ever before possible.

When I get a fire call, navigating to the scene is just the first of many tasks ahead for the MobileMapper CE. Once on the scene, the unit becomes a multipurpose tool to direct firefighters, ensure safety, and, once the fire is out, map the burned area to determine jurisdictions for apportionment of suppression costs.

The features of the unit that I find particularly useful are its submeter accuracy, large amount of data storage, and convenient communications ports. The product's submeter accuracy gives me confidence in the data, which is especially important when allocating among jurisdictions the high cost of suppression efforts. During one recent small fire of approximately 600 acres, suppression efforts needed to protect homes bordering California's Joshua Tree National Park cost about $500,000 (see Figure 2).

Mobile mapping technologies are helping wildland firefighters battle blazes (such as the Jeep Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest) more safely and effectively.

With the 2 GB of storage via a secure digital card, I'm able to load and immediately access multiple layers of information — including topographical maps, aerial photos, land ownership boundaries, dispatch zones, and roads and cities — for virtually any fire scene in the California desert from the Mexican border to Bishop, California, which lies more than 350 miles to the northwest. I can even add more memory to the handheld computer in the future if I'd like.

The unit will recognize a portable USB (Universal Serial Bus) drive of any size. I carry a 300-GB Maxtor drive full of large datasets covering the whole state of California. Of course, the drive requires an external power source, but the MobileMapper itself can power the smaller USB drives that you often see attached to key chains. Previously, I had to lug the information around in huge binders full of compact disks. It was very time-consuming to search for the information needed to make immediate decisions. Now, all I have to do is punch in the dispatch zone — for example, zone 82 — and the MobileMapper CE will display which resources will be responding on a first alarm and second alarm. I now have aerial maps that complement area topographic maps, enabling me to better evaluate the terrain for safety and escape-route planning. Other examples include entering coordinates for the fire and bringing up a land ownership GIS layer to show how close the fire is to Bureau of Land Management property.

The MobileMapper CE's serial and USB ports, secure digital card slot, and Bluetooth capability provide fast, flexible, and easy data transfer and communications. I've been using the Bluetooth connection for a digital camera that records and displays georeferenced photos. Having before-and-after pictures of homes that were destroyed by the fire placed in their exact locations on a map has proven invaluable for damage assessment documentation. The device is also capable of connecting to a Bluetooth-enabled cellular phone that can be used to transmit these images to an FTP server.

In addition to accessing data from the secure digital card, I appreciate having the option of connecting the MobileMapper CE to my Maxtor hard drive or my laptop via the USB port. In addition to the toughness of the unit, other features I particularly value in my line of work are the full-color, daylight-readable display; the touch keyboard; and the all- day battery, which is field-replaceable.

Wireless Communication

Recently, I've had the opportunity to beta test the MobileMapper CE cable-connected to a Thales 25 handheld radio that included beta enhancements from Thales Communications. The enhancements allowed the radio to receive and transmit coordinates, in a National Marine Electronics Association string, provided by the GPS receiver.

This too is a significant advancement. This type of setup enables incident command, for example, to keep track of their firefighters continuously — to know exactly where they are and what kind of terrain they're in. I understand that Thales Communications has now released version 8.0 of the beta firmware for production. It is currently available to existing customers, and will soon be available as a field-upgrade download over the Internet.

Because the MobileMapper CE is Bluetooth-enabled, it can connect wirelessly to any similarly enabled device. And for those of us who don't like cables getting snagged in the brush, that's a feature with real promise.

Every fire crew, engine, helicopter, airtanker, and bulldozer has a radio. Just think of the safety benefits that can come with simply plugging a GPS-equipped, ruggedized, handheld device into that radio to see, at a glance, the position of all suppression resources in relation to the moving fire front. It is not necessary or practical that every firefighter carry a handheld computer. Instead, an external radio speaker/microphone with a built-in GPS receiver can be programmed to transmit the firefighter's location each time the microphone is keyed, or it can be set to transmit automatically at a certain time interval. This is not a futuristic, Star Trek–type fantasy. These are technologies we can implement now, and by doing so, we can save time, money, and lives.

Tom Patterson was the assistant fire management officer for the California Desert District, Bureau of Land Management. He is now the wildland fire specialist for ESRI, and he can be reached at tpatterson@esri.com.