Computerized Map Helps Firefighters Find Blazes, Water
Computers now point the way in Granville Township Fire Department trucks. A new system -- Metropolitan Emergency Communication Consortium Map -- has been installed and downloaded into the trucks and ambulances.
It was designed specifically for firefighters by a Franklin County firefighter using a Geographical Information System. It's basically computer mapping, and the Granville department is the first in Licking County to have it.
It helps firefighters find addresses at the touch of a computer screen.
"The huge advantage is going to be when we have the water sources plugged in," said the fire department's computer expert, Lieutenant Casey Curtis.
Curtis is plotting every water source in the area so firefighters always will have the closest one to the fire.
"When you go out in the country in the middle of the night and you're trying to find a water source like a pond or a swimming pool, and it's dark out, that can be virtually impossible unless you can just remember where you've seen one," said Chief Jeff Hussey. "... Now we'll be able to go back to the map and look at that and actually go right to it."
Curtis said the software also has a measuring tool in it so firefighters will know exactly how far the water source is from the fire, "which is important if there's not a hydrant system," he said. "... It gives us a much better picture of what we're getting into before we ever get there."
The map system also gives firefighters an aerial photograph of where they're going so they can see the size of the house or building.
It will be valuable at places like Denison University, where the roads and addresses don't officially exist on a county map. Plus, the computer screen will show firefighters floor plans of all the campus buildings, as well as other buildings in the area.
"We have the ability to add lots and lots of data layers," Hussey said.
The system will not have floor plans of houses, however.
"I think you get into some personal privacy issues with that," Hussey said. "We'll be able to look at aerial photos of people's houses, but as far as floor plans go, we will probably have only plans of buildings, like the campus buildings."
Another advantage to the system, Curtis said, is finding fires when they're called to help in surrounding areas like Newark, Heath or Hebron.
"Typically what they do now is give us cross streets," Curtis said, "but if you don't know where that is, it's not helping you. We have their map books, and they have ours, but now it's much quicker."
The software for the system cost about $3,000, and the department spent another $16,000 on computers for the trucks. The department bought reconditioned computers to keep the cost down.
"It's made with great big touch screen buttons, and you actually do it with your fire gloves on," Hussey said. "It's made for firemen to be used in a real rugged environment. It's a great tool for us. It's probably one of the more exciting projects we've done in a while."
SOURCE: Network Advocate