The Nebraska Forest Service has a new interactive tool that should help improve efforts to fight future wildfires. For just about a month, the agency has been using new computer simulation tables that show how a wildfire in a given area is projected to behave, and how different firefighting techniques can impact a blaze in progress.
A topography map is projected onto a sand table that can be sculpted to mimic the terrain; add a simulated fire and the computer takes over. “That software knows the topography of the land, what fuel types are on that land, and those are things that drive wildfire,” says NFS Fire Management Specialist Seth Peterson, “We can also manipulate the weather. Weather is the biggest contributor to large fires and how they actually grow.”
Peterson says the simulation gives fire officials advance knowledge of what they would need to do if a fire breaks out in a certain area. It could also make a big impact during a real wildfire event. A smartphone app for firefighters in the field can add valuable, on-site information to the simulator to make it react in real time.
“That iPhone will know where he is on the map, and the IC (Incident Commander) will be able to see exactly where that firefighter is on the line. The firefighter can then update off his phone and basically feed the IC all the information he needs to be making all the decisions, without even being on the fire,” says Peterson.
Each simulator cost the agency about $25,000, and Peterson says they’re even more versatile that simulating fires. Given the right information, the simulators could also project damage areas when rivers run over their banks. They have been in use in training efforts in the northern Panhandle, including the Nebraska Wildland Fire Academy underway at Fort Robinson, but will be made available in other areas of the state. There will also be demonstrations at big events such as Nebraskaland Days in North Platte.
From KOTA News: https://www.kotatv.com/news/nebraska-news/new-simulators-in-use-to-train-for-wildland-firefighting/38919770