1/12/2023 0 Comments Prepo firefighting![]() ![]() Reilly pointed to LandFire, a project created by the U.S. The National Center for Atmospheric Research, meanwhile, has begun modeling weather around fires in 3D to give a more accurate view of where winds might spread their embers next. The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, for instance, now operates two multi-mission Pilatus PC-12 aircraft that can be scrambled to collect color and infrared imagery of wildfires and can send data down to firefighters’ mobile devices within 10 minutes, Dargan said.Įarlier this week, she added, the California National Guard turned on the capability to shapefile updates of fires to firefighters every 15 minutes, and the Colorado National Guard will soon have the same ability. He and Dargan outlined several initiatives to collect and analyze data and then deliver the information to firefighters on the ground. United States Geological Survey (USGS) director James Reilly explained to the audience how shifting winds led the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire to overrun 19 Prescott, Ariz., firefighters who didn’t know of that changing threat. “That is unacceptable.”įirefighters without accurate, real-time data can suffer far worse outcomes. ![]() “We have spent $40 billion of money in the last two years, dealing with the insurance, recovery, and firefighting costs,” Dargan said. “We invented this mechanism, this methodology of firefighting, back in the days of mules and shovels.”īut the growing danger and damage of wildfires demands changes to what she called “a culture of tactical,” or the instinct to solve the problem first and figure the rest out later. “Legacy wildfire strategies are built on a 100-year-old methodology,” said Dargan, who served as California’s first female state fire marshal. Kate Dargan, co-founder and chief strategist of the firefighting-analytics firm Intterra Group, noted the weight of tradition. “From my perspective as a fire chief and a firefighter and a technologist in the public safety space, this is the time where we bring our ability to analyze data and understand scientifically what’s going on in the environment, and find the technological tools that will bring those to the incident commanders,” Johnson continued.īut on the ground, he said, we’re not there yet: “The incident commanders in a wildfire setting are still in many cases throwing paper maps across the hood of their vehicle.” ![]() High winds swept flaming embers ahead of the existing conflagration-“embercast”-and in one situation, generated a “firenado,” an unsettling sight shown to the audience via video clip. “From the minute this fire started, around 6:30 in the morning, this fire traveled 6.3 miles in less than an hour and a half,” Johnson said. Jeff Johnson, CEO of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, reminded the audience of the stunning spread of the fall 2018 Camp Fire. The past two years of California fire history have provided ample evidence of the need to attack this problem. The Ferguson Fire, burning near Yosemite, is nearly 57,000 acres and is 30% contained.A panel Tuesday morning at GEOINT 2019 outlined ways to change that, from collecting more comprehensive data about the risk and extent of wildfires to building ways to transit that data to individual firefighters in as close to real-time as possible. The 98,000-acre Carr Fire, burning in Shasta County, has forced the evacuation of more than 30,000 residents and destroyed nearly 1,000 structures. Please keep all of our Arizona firefighters, and all of the men and women working these fires in your thoughts,” said State Forester Jeff Whitney. We will do everything possible to assist our neighbors, but we also have to be mindful we cannot thin our resources at home. California needs more boots on the ground and the state of Arizona is committed to sending all the resources we can. The fires are burning at an alarming intensity and high rate of speed. “These fires are taking out anything and everything in their way, taking lives and destroying property. Others will provide local fire department station coverage, some will be assigned as initial attack resources for new fire starts, and others will preposition in anticipation of the next round of lightning forecasted for California. A majority of those crews will be directly assigned to the Carr and Ferguson Fires. Recently, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management received multiple orders for personnel and equipment to head to California to help with more than a dozen fires burning there, including the two largest, the Carr and Ferguson fires.Īs of today, nearly 75 engines and 375 fire personnel from Arizona are in California on various assignments. Phoenix, AZ (7/30/18) - The State of California is calling for help and Arizona is ready to answer that call. ![]()
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