Geo Tools for First Responders - SOTM US 2014

Geo Tools for First

Responders

Richard WeltySOTM-US 2014

1Sunday, April 13, 14

Relevant Typesof Geo Data

• Enhanced 911 Addressing for GPS

• Hydrant data (location)

• Hydrants on water systems (capacity)

• Dry Hydrants (lift, seasonal issues)

• Ponds, Streams

• Landing Zones for Medical Evacuation

• Hazmat

• PrePlan data

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Alternatives

• “Data Terminals”• Princeton Project• Active911.com• CAMEOfm• Others

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How to Deliver

• The data is usually already “somewhere”

• County, City GIS departments• Often unwieldy

• One Capital District department used a rolodex in each truck for hydrant data

• Albany NY hydrant data on paper maps

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Street Grids in Old Cities

Cortland Street Not Cortland Street

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OpenFireMap

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Geo Data Assistant

• WiFi only Android Tablet (Nexus 7)• OsmAnd GPS application• Plugin to support Emergency response

specific features• Additional data may come from

elsewhere

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Internet/Cell Access not a requirement

• Poor to non-existent service in many rural areas

• Good tablets have more than enough storage to support application & data

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Mutual Aid

• Primary use case (at least initially) is Mutual Aid

• Departments/Engine companies responding outside of their normal operational area

• Firefighters experience many problems responding out of area

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addressing in large apartment complexeslack of knowledge about neighborhoodswater system issues - private hydrants, no way to determine capacity of hydrants

Extreme Mutual Aid

• 9/11• Hurricane Sandy

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Hydrant Gallery

11Sunday, April 13, 14

dry barrel - discuss featuresSteamer vs hose connectionscolor schemes contain no real information

Hydrant Gallery

• Wet Barrel• West coast• UCLA colors

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Hydrant Gallery

• Wynantskill, NY

• AWWA color scheme

• Blue Caps & Bonnet

• Class AA Hydrant

• > 1500 GPM

13Sunday, April 13, 14

capacity helpful, but you don’t know the capacity until you see the hydrant

AWWA Classification

Class Flow (@ 20PSI) Cap & Bonnet Color

AA More than 1500 GPM Blue

A Between 1500 GPM and 1000 GPM Green

B Between 1000 GPM and 500 GPM Yellow

C Less than 500 GPM Red

14Sunday, April 13, 14

distinguish between static (head) pressure and pressure while operating hydrant

Capacity

• Why is capacity important?• Big fire, need lots of capacity• Drawdown of water in main can

damage appliances in residences (notably hot water heaters)

• Risk of main collapse

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Hydrant Gallery

• Bethlehem, NY• Green = large main• Orange = medium

main• Red = small main

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Hydrant Gallery

• Tag on Steamer connection instead of paint for flow capacity

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problem with painters

Hydrant Gallery

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no Steamer connection on left, only steamer connection on right

Snow

• “If I have to dig one out of the snow it better be a good one”

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Out of Service

• Not all Hydrants are operational

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Out of Service

21Sunday, April 13, 14

can’t see out of service condition until you see the hydrant

Out of service(But it’s a secret)

• NYC “Stubby” hydrant

• High pressure system operated from ca 1905 through 1979

• Stubby hydrants still around in NYC

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reference extreme mutual aid

Is this a hydrant?

• Rural VFD, no pressurized water system

• Lawn Ornament

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Hydrant Gallery

24Sunday, April 13, 14

Sources: ponds, lakes, streamsseasonal issues, lift

Dry Hydrant, but...

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water source is higher than hydrant

Wrench Types

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also apparently triangular and conventional hex heads

Hydrant Display

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OsmAnd+ screenshot

Building Footprints

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Color Code extension

29Sunday, April 13, 14

color code for capacityUse case: observing hydrant capacity while riding in to the scene, stopping tostart laying hose on the way in

OSM Tagging

• Some current tags• emergency=fire_hydrant

• fire_hydrant:type={pillar,pond,underground}

• colour={red,yellow,green,blue,...}

• diameter=12 inches

30Sunday, April 13, 14

pillar - used in Germany, correct in US usage but not common. not used in UK.diameter - main diameterpressure - in bar (head pressure?), not relevant to US operating practicepond - inappropriate conflation

Capacity Tags

• Proposed, not currently official• fire_hydrant:capacity=700 GPM

• fire_hydrant:class={AA,A,B,C}

• fire_hydrant:water_source={main,pond,stream}

• Capacity on streams?

31Sunday, April 13, 14

LPM for non-US jurisdictions

Additional Tags

• More proposed tags• color:reflective={white,blue,yellow}

• color:bonnet={red,blue,green,white,...}

• color:cap={red,blue,green,orange,white}

• color:cap=grey;yellow

• in_service={yes,no}

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Other Properties

• Outlet sizes, threads• Wrench type and size

• triangular, square, pentagonal, hexagonal

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• Orientation

• Steamer valve perpendicular to curb vs 45 degree angle

Orientation probably not that important

Dry Hydrant Tags

• Dry hydrant conditions• weeds• low water levels (winter)• lift

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Landing Zones

• Landing Zones (Med Evac)• current tags that are relevant

• name• operator

• need to characterize additional information

35Sunday, April 13, 14

don’t want to use the existing aviation tagging, as that is for general purpose landing facilities, not for emergency LZs

Hazmat Data

• In the US, this actually information of public record

• Probably not be appropriate in OSM• Candidate for private data store

36Sunday, April 13, 14

Hazmat Use Cases

• Materials in building that’s on fire?• Materials in adjacent buildings• Plume direction/danger based on

prevailing winds• CAMEOfm capability that may be

easy to integrate• Potential interaction with GPS

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Other Considerations

• Policy on overriding One Way, Turn Restrictions

• Do we need different maps for different classes of emergency vehicles?

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Contact Info

• primary: rwelty@averillpark.net• secondary: nfgusedautoparts@gmail.com• OSM: nfgusedautoparts• Twitter: @nfgusedautopart

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Bonus Hydrant Image

• Dry Barrel• Valve at water main• Safety Flange

designed to fail• at grade level

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