Page 129 - Mapping the Nation: Taking Climate Action

A static map, such as this one in the crew camp of the Terwilliger Fire, still serve a purpose, but near real-time maps are quickly replacing print outs. Firefighter Collaboration Leads to Real-Time Wildfire Awareness In 2021, a wildfire burned through seven million US acres— more than twice the annual average. Indicative of this crisis's scope and impact on residents is the record 2.2 billion visits to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) open data site that shares the near real-time location and size of fires across the country. "There are always the questions, ‘How close is it to my house, and am I threatened?'" said Skip Edel, Fire GIS program lead with the National Park Service who also administers the NIFC ArcGIS Online implementation. With easy access to fire perimeter updates on a map, residents can now discover their risks. What's known as the NIFC Org is the result of an ongoing effort to connect more than 22,000 users involved in wildland fire operations across agencies through a cloud-based GIS. NIFC Org offers flexible reporting and visualization tools, providing opportunities to view and update operational details about almost every fire in the United States. Before this digital transformation, with its mobile-first strategy, there were approximately 300 regular incident GIS users across agencies. Now, a complex mix of federal agencies, the Department of Defense, 50 state and six territory emergency response organizations, members of the National Association of State Foresters, and hundreds of local responder organizations each have access, changing every season depending on where fires are occurring. "A large portion of the firefighters access NIFC Org using a smartphone or tablet," Edel said. "They love how they can draw in details on the map, make some notes, and then it shows up right away, helping them see their contribution to the overall effort." 128 Wildfire