Bay Area firefighters develop game-changing wildfire technology
Bay Space firefighters acquire match-altering wildfire technological innovation
No matter if on an iPad or other tablet, the Bay Region-developed “Tablet Command” process is nothing at all much less than a technological recreation changer for firefighters, by firefighters.
SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. – Considering the fact that the initial big firestorms of 2017, high technological know-how has been improving upon applications for firefighters, who even now largely do the job on the ground and generally with very little info about how the general combat is likely.
Two Bay Location firefighters have produced an general circumstance recognition application that other firefighters really like — and say should distribute to other departments.
No matter if on an iPad or other pill, the Bay-Place-produced “Tablet Command” program is practically nothing fewer than a technological match changer for firefighters, by firefighters.
Contra Costa County firefighters William Pidgeon, who is also a laptop science skilled, and Andy Bozzo, a working firefighter, made use of their authentic environment activities to come up with the Tablet Command program.
The software is now employed by 265 fireplace departments across North America, and its consumer selection is escalating everyday.
“I was not ready to establish a mission significant application. So we elevated some revenue with good friends and relatives, created a organization and partnered with a application progress enterprise to establish the to start with variation of the application,” claimed Pidgeon.
The application is all about the situational consciousness of the entire fireplace incident, offering information offered to all incident commanders and 1st responders.
“The good thing about this, it can be on an iPad, which, for most departments, they can manage to order,” mentioned Main Costa.
Just before Tablet Command, laptop computer personal computer systems that did 50 % as a lot were being, at the very least, two times the price tag. To this day, any departments nevertheless have only paper notes, paper maps and a radio, with small obtain to the huge photo.
Two Sonoma County firefighters observed the software program function although they were being on mutual help incidents, and they fought tough to provide it to the Bay Place.
“I was blown away. I was like, ‘Wow, we definitely will need to carry this to Sonoma County,’” said Petaluma Fire Department Assistant Chief Chad Costa.
“It is, by considerably, arms down, a person of the very best technological know-how applications I have at any time used,” additional Sonoma Valley Fireplace Battalion Chief Spencer Andreis.
Pill Command includes any area’s hearth history, all streets statewide (which include again roads and fireplace roadways), the spot of each individual piece of gear and 1000’s of cameras (including remote utility cameras), regional fire temperature and is infinitely expandable.
From the discipline, firefighters can enter information and facts in actual time, substantially speeding up and improving responses.
If you will find any weak point to this system at all, it comes about in remote regions where you will find tiny or no Wi-Fi. But, with commercial, web satellite Wi-Fi now on the marketplace, that difficulty will very likely be cleared up as effectively.