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The Fire Services Take: Spring 2021
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The Fire Service Take with Gary McCarraher
Case study on FirstNet and wildfires
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Wildfires pose a serious threat—with unpredictability in the fire’s spread, risk to residential areas, and increased danger for firefighters. That’s why the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) is focusing on how to provide the best communications support for wildfire response.
Wildfire case study
The FirstNet Authority is launching a wildfire case study. The goal is to understand the challenges of responding to wildfires and to determine communications solutions as the 2021 wildfire season approaches. As part of the study, the FirstNet Authority has assembled a team to examine how firefighters have used FirstNet in wildfire response, how FirstNet performed, and how deployable assets were used.
Deployables bring connectivity to base camp
FirstNet deployables have played a key role in providing connectivity at incident command posts during wildfires. FirstNet deployables are mobile cell sites that boost connectivity via satellite and don’t rely on commercial power, so they can be helpful resources in a wildfire’s remote locale.
In 2018, the Miles Fire in Prospect, Oregon started with a spark of lightning and eventually engulfed 50,000 acres. The fire incident management team called in FirstNet for support. A Satellite Cell on Light Truck, or SatCOLT, was deployed at the base camp where nearly 2,000 first responders gathered. At the time of the fire, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Fire Chief Mike Duyck credited FirstNet with improving situational awareness and connecting firefighters to their families back home.
“Before FirstNet deployed the SatCOLT to our base camp, our first responders couldn’t send a text message, let alone speak on the phone to their families,” he said. “As it stands today, we might have weather challenges, but the coverage FirstNet is providing is meeting our needs, giving us better situational awareness, and bringing comfort to our responders during a time of stress and anxiety.”
In 2020, the Bertschi Road Fire burned through a rural part of Washington state where cellular connectivity can be sparse and spotty. Lieutenant LeRoy Sisley, a member of the Northwest Interagency Incident Management Team #10, noticed he had no cell service beginning about 20 miles from the fire. He turned to FirstNet for assistance. Three hours later, a FirstNet mobile cell site arrived at the Bertschi Road Fire incident command post.
“I got the FirstNet emergency response number, called them, and they were very responsive. Three hours later…we had FirstNet phones working,” Lieutenant Sisley said. “It’s a great safety net.”
Connectivity on the fire line
FirstNet deployables were used in a new way that goes beyond providing connectivity to the incident command post at the Cameron Peak Fire.
The Cameron Peak Fire was Colorado’s largest wildland fire, ravaging more than 200,000 acres until it was contained in January 2021. Don Patterson, a firefighter and communications expert with Berthoud Fire Protection District in Colorado, deployed knowing that broadband communications would play a huge role. In the past, Patterson worked fires where deployables were sent to the incident command post, but he knew this time had to be different.
At Cameron Peak, two Sat COLTs were sent to strategic locations directly on the fire line. This positioning allowed critical information to be shared with everyone from incident command to firefighters on the ground. These teams used FirstNet to access real-time maps to see the fire perimeter, apps with GPS coordinates to land helicopters, and video feeds from airplanes to detect the fire’s spread.
“Our boots on the ground, our divisions, our branches, our taskforce leaders, even the firefighters themselves, were literally counting on that communication asset,” Patterson said. “They saw the speed of the service…the connectivity…that there wasn’t any latency that we would get in the past. They’ve seen why FirstNet is really important.”
Wildfire response is a priority
In advance of the wildfire season beginning in late summer, my colleagues and I at the FirstNet Authority are examining the role FirstNet plays in wildfire response. We are looking at the evolution of deployables from the incident command post to the fire line. We are also looking at communication challenges that wildland firefighters experience.
Your experience
Have you had experience responding to wildfires? What are your communications challenges in the fire service? Send me an email to share your feedback.
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The FirstNet network continues to expand across America. In the last three months, new cell sites have gone up in: Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, and near the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota.
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FirstNet is helping communities respond to COVID-19, by supporting vaccination efforts, enabling remote 9-1-1 operations, connecting healthcare workers, and supporting social distancing. The network allows responders to maintain reliable communications when and where they need it most – in the field, at work, and at home.
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Tech, Innovations, and Hot Topics in Fire Service
Read what we’ve been hearing from public safety in the field about trends and drivers for fire services and emergency communications.*
In California, a small plane with a state-of-the-art camera and a satellite sits at the Joint Forces Training Base, ready to deliver real-time infrared video and photos to decision-makers on the ground in a matter of seconds. Firefighters can receive this data directly on their cell phones, to help them make better predictions based on timely data.
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Situational awareness is crucial to firefighters responding to wildfires. Mobile broadband – like FirstNet – enables firefighters to access apps that provide up-to-date maps and videos to make operational decisions in the field. Cellular broadband also frees up traffic from land mobile radio systems, keeping radios open for other critical incidents.
Watch the video |
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Gary McCarraher is the FirstNet Authority Fire Services Subject Matter Expert. Learn more about Gary or email him with your questions. |
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*FirstNet Authority may provide hyperlinks for third-party, non-governmental websites in order to offer additional context and added value for our users. FirstNet Authority does not endorse any product or service and is not responsible, nor can it guarantee the validity or timeliness of the content on hyperlinks outside of the federal government. In addition, users may wish to review privacy notices on non-government sites since their information collection practices may differ from ours.
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