Problems and Solutions

There were several challenging problems facing fire teams using GIS, and precious time was lost when they arose. With just a little pre-planning, many of these issues could be eliminated. During informal discussions and during a debriefing meeting several months after the fire, the GIS team identified several problems and proposed solutions.

Problems:

1. GIS support was informally linked to the Incident Command structure; this led to the GIS team responding to many queries without prioritization.
2. GPS data dictionaries had to be created for field data collection.
3. AML's had to be converted to run on different platforms.
4. Problems with permission access to files on the UNIX workstations.
5. Inadequate disk workspace on the UNIX workstations.
6. Poor translation between platforms.
7. An experienced system administrator was always needed but not always present (night and day).
8. Different map projections and different scales of data.
9. Data was incomplete and sometimes out of date or of poor quality.
10. Lack of physical space for bulky computer systems, digitizers and plotters.
11. Lack of understanding of GIS capabilities by fire staff resulted in redundant work effort.
12. A computer virus brought in on a laptop computer plagued the systems for a couple of days before being identified and removed.
13. Non-standard file naming conventions and data categories.
14. Too many people and too few computers.
15. Lost opportunity for tracking fire history because hand drawn maps by fire fighters were lost early on as GIS lab geared up.
16. No tracking method for system administration of the workstations.

Solutions:

1. Place GIS support formally in the Incident Command System.
2. Prioritize products and place OPS first.
3. Prepackage GPS data dictionaries.
4. Prepackage AML programs for products with maps of several sizes. Ensure that the AML’s can easily be transferred across platforms and are well documented.
5. Make sure that more than one person at a land management agency has GIS experience (training) and understands the capabilities and limitations of GIS.
6. Scan for viruses as new equipment is brought in.
7. Establish solid contacts with vendors so that problem solving can occur swiftly during a disaster.
8. Maintain a standard projection within the land management agency and have the AML's to convert.
9. Keep one complete set of hard copy maps in a secure place.
10. Maintain connections with GIS specialists with other agencies, organizations and universities through conferences, societies, etc. These contacts were the key to getting the GIS lab jump-started.
11. Maintain a list of contacts with names and home phone numbers. Disasters usually occur in the evening, over the weekend or on holidays.
12. Provide a bin for placement of early hand drawn maps so fire history data is not lost.
13. Provide a log book for each workstation tracking problems and serving as a reference for team members.
14. Develop a metadata form and maintain it during the fire.
15. Schedule a debriefing meeting of GIS team shortly after the event while ideas are still fresh.

The Vision fire at Point Reyes is a wake-up call for many private and public agencies. Although it is impossible to contemplate and identify every problem in providing GIS related services during fires or other emergency operations, we are convinced that GIS is, and will continue to be, a vital tool to emergency responders in the future. It is our hope that by documenting our experiences, identifying the problems we encountered and identifying pre-planning considerations, more public and federal agencies will be better prepared to handle emergency incidents more effectively.