Bob Logue, deputy chief of the Anaheim Fire Department, believed early on that investments in IT would give the department an edge in its annual struggle with wildfires. Yet as another California wildfire season approaches, he hopes for the best even as he prepares for the worst: a hellish conflagration like the one that ravaged the state in 2003.
That most devastating wildfire disaster in California history consumed 750,043 acres, destroyed 3,710 homes and killed 24 people. Many of the victims perished in their cars as they tried desperately to flee the fast-advancing infernos. During a two-week period that fall, at the height of the emergency, 15,000 fire fighters from fire departments across the western United States battled blazes in southern California.
Since 2003, California has recorded half of its 20 biggest fires. To contain that firepower and neutralize the menace, departments across California are loading up on information technology.
Anaheim has been in the lead in adopting information technologies designed to increase its public safety effectiveness. Central to its strategy is Global Positioning System (GPS) technology that shows the location of vehicles in real-time and a set of digital maps that enable field commanders to call up such data as forest fire history, changing weather conditions and building plans.
But as with many would-be IT solutions, acquiring the technology is only half the battle. By itself, wireless communications and novel applications can't extinguish a damp match. Used properly, however, IT can make firefighters safer and more effective. The 2003 wildfire season "was a very good proof of concept for us," says Logue.
The key systems helping firefighters today include automatic vehicle location (AVL) technology that uses satellite-based GPS systems to pinpoint vehicle locations as well as cell phone networks to transmit reports to a department's server.
During the wildfires of 2003, which spared Anaheim and its surroundings, the city sent trucks and crews to help neighboring communities. Anaheim had just installed AVL. "We were able to watch our units" at all times, says Logue. But without AVL systems, other departments lost contact with their trucks. "They'd call us and ask, "˜do you know where our rigs are?' " he recalls.
Last year the Los Angeles County Fire Department installed AVL devices in all of its 800 fire and emergency vehicles. John Tripp, the department's chief deputy of emergency operations, says commanders still have to rely on broadcasts from television news helicopters for aerial video of the progress of wildfires.
Having demonstrated the practicality and usefulness of AVL, Logue began upgrading the department's whole digital mapping and routing system.. The new one"developed by GeoSpatial Technologies Inc."uses the Sprint Nextel network to carry both the AVL signals and all the digital mapping data.
Vehicles now have more powerful modems and roof antennas for tracking, replacing the cell phones attached to dashboards with Velcro in 2003. Vehicle locations are displayed on the digital maps, along with weather conditions, satellite photos, property parcel information, emergency contact information to commercial building owners and the locations of any hazardous materials.
Anaheim has adopted another IT component for its vehicles that many other departments are now using or planning to use: mobile data computers (MDCs), which help crew chiefs make better decisions by giving them access to digital maps and other emergency information in the field.
Fire chiefs say the improvements to their situational awareness is just a first step. Inspired by the worsening threat of wildfires as well as potential terrorist attacks, fire departments and other first responders across California are working to make their AVL systems more visible to each another.
Recently Anaheim integrated its AVL system with those of all the fire departments of Orange County, the state's second most populous after Los Angeles County. The locations of 350 fire vehicles, as well as some police and first responder vehicles, are now visible to all users of the system. By the end of the year the fire department of neighboring Los Angeles County should be integrated into the system, followed by the City of Los Angeles and other fire departments across the state.
EHRs on wish list
For all the recent progress, there are still a number of improvements southern California's fire fighters would like to see. One is real-time updates on the movement of fire lines. LA County's fire department, for example, deploys spotters on ridges to record a fire's progress on a GPS device. But the device has to be manually carried back to a field base for the data to be transferred. The same holds true for helicopters mapping a blaze's advance. Commanders have to wait until surveillance crafts land to gain access to memory cards.
Rob Sawyer, LA County Fire Department's chief information officer, has looked at several devices that promised the ability to transmit such information wirelessly as it is recorded, but to date he has found "nothing I've been excited about."
Fire and emergency officials also are looking for effective patient-tracking systems for injured residents or firefighters who are evacuated. Marcy Metz, chief of emergency medical services for San Diego County, says electronic health records are high on her wish list. During the 2007 wildfires season, three hospitals and 12 nursing facilities in the path of a fast moving fire-line in her area had to be hurriedly evacuated. In those circumstances, she says, "you don't have time to print out records" containing patient histories, medications and treatments.
As California girds itself for this year's wildfire season, experts warn that finding the most powerful technology is only half the battle. The other half is making sure it is really useful to firefighters as well as easy to use. "It shouldn't interfere with operations," says San Diego's Diaz. "It should enhance it. Some commanders want more technology; some want less. We teach our staff to be very respectful of that."
