MAPPING SYSTEM PREDICTS FIRE PATH PILOT DEVELOPS NEW TECHNOLOGY.Byline: ANGIE VALENCIA-MARTINEZ Staff Writer VAN NUYS AIRPORT Van Nuys Airport (IATA: VNY, ICAO: KVNY, FAA LID: VNY) is a public airport located in Van Nuys, California in the San Fernando Valley, within the Los Angeles city limits. -- When the Santa Anas fan blazes across Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, this fire season, one firefighter who narrowly escaped death in a helicopter crash will be flying high over the flames to help save lives and property. Using a method he helped develop after recovering from his accident, Steven Robinson of the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Fire Department's aerial program, can map a fire in progress and provide vital information, including evacuation routes and other emergency plans, to ground crews. ``I am able to predict where a fire is moving and how fast without putting fire crews in danger,'' the 40-year-old pilot said. ``This is an ongoing process that we're developing further and further. It puts information at your fingertips "Fingertips" is a 1963 number-one hit single recorded live by "Little" Stevie Wonder for Motown's Tamla label. Wonder's first hit single, "Fingertips" was the first live, non-studio recording to reach number-one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the United States. quickly.'' The Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. man spearheaded the cutting-edge computer mapping program in the department following his near fatal 1998 crash. He was piloting the helicopter that was rushing an 11-year-old car crash victim to the hospital when the chopper's tail rotor Noun 1. tail rotor - rotor consisting of a rotating airfoil on the tail of a single-rotor helicopter; keeps the helicopter from spinning in the direction opposite to the rotation of the main rotor anti-torque rotor broke off, killing the girl, two paramedics and a helicopter crew member. A lawsuit against the helicopter company was settled last month. After nearly two years of rehab, he returned to the Fire Department determined to return to Air Operations. Since 2001, however, he has been unable to fly because of head injuries sustained in the accident. He can still co-pilot. Wanting to feel useful while on restricted duty, the desk-bound pilot teamed with ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., Redlands, CA, www.esri.com) The world's leading developer of geographic information systems (GIS) software, including programs that plot ZIP codes and addresses, demographic information and detailed, color-coded data. , a Redlands-based company that specializes in geographic information systems, or GIS, software. ``I didn't want to retire,'' he said. ``I worked so hard to get here. I saw this as an opportunity to deliver a new program.'' The public-private partnership Public-private partnership (PPP) describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies. These schemes are sometimes referred to as PPP or P3. eventually included Hewlett-Packard. The two companies went on to donate more than $300,000 worth of computers, servers and software and also provided the training. The end result: interactive computerized mapping that displays layer upon layer of information about a fire's size, census data, topography, weather, location of nearby homes and population, hospitals, schools and more. The mapping is built on high-resolution images captured by an aircraft. The data are overlaid on the pictures, and users can zoom in and out for a more detailed picture. The mapping software, used during last year's Topanga Fire, which burned more than 24,000 acres in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, accurately predicted when it was time to evacuate the residents of Oak Park. ``I said, `The fire is moving at such and such speed and will hit Oak Park at such and such time,''' Robinson said. The downside to the current technology is that Robinson must log on to a server to acquire the information, which means he has to fly back to the office at Van Nuys Airport, print the maps and drive them back to the command post. He is now working on acquiring a $600,000 high-tech mobile command truck that can download his maps and display them on screen. ``Time is critical,'' he said. ``When we have to make decisions on the fly, we can't be waiting to get data out. It needs to be as current as possible.'' GIS mapping is just one example of the technologically advanced equipment firefighters are using, and will put to more use as fire season heats up. ``It allows our companies on the ground to get ready to fight the fire when it's headed on a specific direction,'' helicopter pilot Phil Clark Phil Clark may refer to:
Air Operations recently acquired a $1 million high-definition camera for one of their fire helicopters, fully operational with high-definition and thermal images that can capture latitude-longitude coordinates along with fire progressions from the camera lens. Robinson said he believes it's the first camera of its type in civilian service Civilian service is service to a government made as a civilian, particularly such service as an option for anti-militarists and pacifists who object to military service. Examples of countries with thriving civilian service programmes are Switzerland (Swiss Civilian Service), . ``Technology is woven throughout the department,'' said Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. spokesman Brian Humphrey. ``Firefighters are more well-informed than ever.'' angie.valencia(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3699 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: LAFD LAFD Los Angeles Fire Department LAFD Los Alamos Fire Department LAFD London Association of Funeral Directors (UK) aerial operations pilot Steven Robinson maps out fires in progress with a bird's-eye view and new high-tech equipment installed in the chopper. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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