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GIS Is the Data Backbone for Agencies Battling L.A. Fires

Geospatial data serves as the foundational building block for crucial mapping and communications tools used by state and local government agencies in responding to fast-moving disasters like wildfires.

A pine tree silhouetted against a large wildfire.
As unpredictable and tragically dangerous as fighting fires remains, geographic information tools offer the kinds of global incident views and intelligence that were unimaginable less than a decade ago, but can now help win the battle.

In a recent demonstration of Esri’s Scene Viewer technology, Anthony Schultz, its director of wildland fire solutions, used his cursor to scan over a 3D representation of the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, showing the fire perimeter overlaid with evacuation zones, warnings and other essential data.

“Doing that for each one of these fires … really gives the agencies a way to communicate the evacuation orders,” said Schultz, who is also the former assistant state forester and fire management officer for Wyoming. He was demonstrating Scene Viewer’s capabilities as used by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, commonly known as CAL FIRE. Scene Viewer, which is also publicly available, offers a 3D view of the area, showing evacuation zones, wind gusts and other data — updated regularly to communicate key details about, in this case, the various fires devastating the Los Angeles region. The fires, which began Jan. 7, have claimed at least 24 lives.

The Palisades Fire has consumed more than 23,700 acres, destroying more than 5,000 structures, and is 17 percent contained. The Eaton Fire, which ignited in the area around Altadena, north of Pasadena, has burned more than 14,000 acres and destroyed some 6,500 structures. It is 35 percent contained.

GIS data tools are often the foundation for technology powering the response and rescue operations in strictly wildland fires and the conflagrations happening currently in the Los Angeles area. Other examples include the National Incident Feature Service, a real-time, interactive web map system used by the National Interagency Fire Center. The system is powered by ArcGIS Online, a GIS technology platform produced by Esri.

Its maps include data related to dozer lines — those wide swaths cleared in a landscape to serve as a fire containment line — such as their location, when they were put in, and to what fire incident they relate.

“As these features get published in the map, incident management teams and firefighters around the entire fire area have all this,” Schultz explained, noting the maps can be easily accessed via mobile devices like phones or tablets. The map data, he said, allows various fire teams to communicate with each other from “a ‘common operating picture.’ So everyone’s looking at it. Everyone’s singing from the same sheet of music.”

And the data can be accessed offline, a big plus given the often spotty communications infrastructure in fire areas.

“They can download the entire fire area,” Schultz said, adding the data is stored on the device locally, and can be uploaded to the web map system when the firefighter is in an area with cell or Wi-Fi coverage. These kinds of technology advances that marry geospatial data with digital platforms began emerging about 2016, he said. And they have dramatically changed the firefighting experience.

“Before that, it was paper maps, and handheld GPS units were the way to do it,” Schultz noted. “We kind of joke now, and say, ‘how do we fight a fire now without GIS?’ I don’t honestly know how you would communicate to some folks, to the level of degree that’s expected at this point, in the public, without this kind of technology.”

The ability to integrate many pieces of GIS data, such as roads, trails and homes, has gained even broader importance as neighborhoods creep into the edge of wildlands, making them more susceptible to fire threats, experts say.

“Essentially that changed the way we manage these major disasters,” said Mike Cox, director of fire and EMS solutions for Esri and a retired fire official in Henrico County, Va. “In addition to the population growth in the fire-prone areas, we’re also seeing climate impacts, and the climate is changing.”

GIS data is not only used to respond to disasters, but in the more day-to-day work of fire departments, which are often first responders for medical calls. It’s used to track vehicles and firefighters and locate the closest appropriate resources, Cox said — and to use predictive analytics to offer insight into a higher likelihood of certain types of emergency calls in certain areas.

“And we’re seeing some of our partners deploy these capabilities with over 80 percent accuracy,” he said. “GIS is the foundational element for response, and pretty common in just about every government organization.”
Skip Descant writes about smart cities, the Internet of Things, transportation and other areas. He spent more than 12 years reporting for daily newspapers in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and California. He lives in downtown Yreka, Calif.