Editor's note: Here is a blog post (with killer pictures) from one of our amazing team members, Krista West. Here's a little bit about her:
As members of the fire service, it's important for us to identify community risk in order to improve our response and plan for community preparedness and risk reduction. Granted, this is a process that involves a lot of analysis and planning, but reducing community risk keeps everyone safe; citizens and safety responders alike. Creating a community risk reduction plan, implementing and monitoring it for any changes necessary isn't easy, but by balancing resources and using the 5 Es of community risk reduction will help you come up with a great plan to get all departments on board.
Recently, we invited Captain Chris Ingram of the Santa Clara County Fire Department to share his experience on the Oroville Dam Incident. There were a lot of lessons to be learned that we wanted to share with everyone to show a better look into the way technology is making a difference in ways we hadn't originally anticipated, and we thought were interesting.
Editor's note: Special thanks to our friends at ConStarUAS, Silent Falcon, and Overwatch for putting a system together that highlights some of the best thinking in this field. We believe the future of these platforms is the ability to combine the aircraft, sensor, and information all into one package that is easily used and deployed by First Responders. This kind of collaboration is a welcome addition to a space that is filled with siloed solutions.
Small fires can turn into big fires, which can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of property damages. Luckily, we live in a world where newer and better technology is always available. In the world of wildfires, firefighters are discovering the potential of drones and unmanned aerial systems/vehicles to detect these small flare ups before they become big forest fires. Here's how it works.
It's been exceptionally dry here in Colorado. We've seen very little rain or snow in the last several months, and it's creating the potential for an explosive wildfire season. Fire departments all over Colorado are taking the time to prepare themselves in the coming weeks for whatever the future may bring, and several agencies have already deployed Intterra's Situation Analyst (SA) & its Field Tool.
We always get so excited to bring you new information about a different member of our terrific staff every two weeks. At Intterra, each employee plays a uniquely valuable role. We really couldn't exist without everybody on the team. As part of our get to know the team series, we invite you to meet Emily Carpenter this week. Emily handles the transmission and representation of geospatial information in SA for Intterra, and she makes a huge difference in our day-to-day operations. Aside from being great at what she does, she's a really important person in our lives overall. Here's what you need to know.
It takes a lot to bring safety to firefighters battling wildfires. This is just a fact of life. To know the real time location of firefighting resources and the real time location of the fire so you can allocate resources the right way to keep first responders safe can be challenging. By bringing these two pieces of information together, you create the ability to prevent firefighter fatalities by enhancing situational awareness.
Many of the large wildfires you read about in the news last year have had contributions from a system from Klamath County, Oregon. Central Oregon fire experts have been pushing the boundaries to bring together these ideas in a modern, effective way. They developed a common sense, deployable system. Based on years of senior fire management experience drawn from vast experience, they create technology that works for locals, and ties their efforts directly in with large state and Federal systems as well. And they bring it all together to keep the wildfires from causing any fatalities or too much damage. The system shows the location of firefighters, no matter where they are in the county, so that they can allocate resources to the wildfire the right way. Many other states and counties are using versions of this system. However, the Klamath County Situation Analyst (KCSA) goes above and beyond.
It's clear that drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are already an important piece of technology for the fire service and for emergency responders. Check out this commentary on drones and UAV's in the fire service from our good friend Chris Ingram, the Fire Captain over at Santa Clara County Fire Department.
