New technology is making it easier for fire departments to do their jobs.
It was only a matter of time before Silicon Valley would pitch in to help Bay Area firefighters. Various new tools including forecasting models, cameras and drones are all being tested by departments and used to help plan how to fight fires.
One such example is Zonehaven, a map-based evacuation platform that helps first responders plan, train and execute live evacuations, according to the website.
This service provides drills, preplanning and safe ways to contact the community.
Proper evacuation management can be difficult to pull off, "especially in the higher threat fire zones where evacuations tend to be the most difficult because there’s often hilly terrain that’s typically one-way in, one-way out," said Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Spokesperson Steven Hill.
Hill has also been impressed by new high-tech cameras that analyze fires when they break out. "There alert wildfire cameras can give us intelligence on a fire even before we get there, we can begin to assess the fire," said Hill.
Of course, there are drones. "They allow us to see over that hill that we haven’t gotten to yet, or maybe we can’t get to," said Hill.
But fires can’t be put out just by tech.
Firefighters still need to battle the flames in person, but at least with these tools, the job is more efficient.
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