J. Coleman, Retired California State Fire Marshall Fire departments must protect lives and property with a limited amount of resources. It is critically important the deployment of these resources is effective, efficient, and based on the best information possible. This data is often found in a variety of different locations and formats and requires a great deal of time to acquire, prepare, and formulate into a useful format. Resultant deployment plans are often completed, implemented, and shelved. Deployment planning in the traditional sense is more of an event than an ongoing process.
Fire officers can view all of the data necessary to analyze deployment in one view.
Data can be added, subtracted, or modified with a click of a mouse. Once a GIS database has been created, deployment analysis can be reviewed and updated at any time with little effort. Although computerized mapping systems have been around for many years, recent improvements have made GIS software available on the desktop and on laptops. GIS applications developed specifically for fire departments provide tremendous functionality through a user-friendly interface. GIS software can now be used by non-specialists to improve planning, analysis, and response.