# Outside Dynamic Evacuation Routes to Escape a Wildfire: A Prototype App for Forest Firefighters
## 3 Materials and Methods
### Evacuation Routes Algorithm
sensor with the closest location to the fire and changes its temperature value to one higher than the configured maximum threshold. When any data are above this limit, Grafana immediately sends the alert message, as shown in Figure 10.

Finally, Figure 11 shows the Grafana warning messages. Figure 11 (top) shows the case is when all sensed values up to that moment are within the normal range, while Figure 11 (bottom) shows the case when there are sensed data above the configured limits. ## 5 Discussion and Conclusions

This article presents the impact of evacuation routes in different fire scenarios considering the study area is a forest. The study incorporated the terrain's physical elevations, the meteorological data sensed in real-time, and a fire propagation algorithm to obtain more precise and realistic simulation results. The results show that the evacuation route reacts to the presence of fire in the forest, deviating from its original direction and identifying another appropriate route that maintains a safe distance from the fire, although this is not the shortest route to an arrival point. The model for calculating evacuation routes is focused on forested areas but does not take into account whether there is a tree or physical obstruction due to geo-referential positioning; however, with the precision of the data obtained from latitude, longitude, and elevation being approximately one step, there may be a minimal margin of error concerning the calculated evacuation route. The tool is expected to serve as a reference to find optimal evacuation routes that relief agencies can consider in emergencies, knowing that the algorithm uses some variables and is coupled according to the wildfire spread. The algorithm was used for multiple scenarios where the study area is a forest; the configuration is simple because only the new longitude/latitude coordinate must be inserted to calculate the evacuation routes. The model is limited to knowing geo-positioning points that are used by the algorithm; however, we are working on an algorithm that uses Google Maps with roads to improve the calculation of evacuation routes allowing it to be more realistic, in order to extend the model to other study areas, e.g., populated areas with a forest nearby. An important point to consider in the application is that, when studying

Figure 11: Grafana alert messages: without fire (**top**); and with fire (**bottom**). Figure 10: Early warning system in operation. larger areas, it must be analyzed by parts because doing it in a single execution could lower the fire propagation algorithm's accuracy and evacuation routes. The tools used by forest firefighters are limited; they can generate evacuation routes but only considering a starting point and the arrival point without considering fire propagation models and environmental variables as this application does. This prototype presents a firm path for constructing a digital tool (future work) that allows relief agencies to be immediately alerted to forest fire events, observe fire behavior in real time, and simultaneously offer safe evacuation routes as the event progresses. This tool's application would help safeguard the lives of firefighters, rescuers, and civilians within the forest and minimize mortality rates in a similar event. All these scenarios are considered future works. Conceptualization, K.C.-B., F.J.-V. and W.V. ; Data curation, K.C.-B., F.J.-V. and W.V. ; Formal analysis, K.C.-B., F.J.-V. and W.V. ; Funding acquisition, W.V. ; Investigation, K.C.-B., F.J.-V. and W.V. ; Methodology, K.C.-B., F.J.-V. and W.V. ; Project administration, W.V. ; Resources, K.C.-B., F.J.-V. and W.V. ; Software, K.C.-B. and F.J.-V.; Supervision, W.M. ; Validation, W.M. and W.V. ; Visualization, K.C.-B. and F.J.-V.; Writing--original draft, K.C.-B., F.J.-V. and W.V. ; Writing--review & editing, W.V. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. No funding. Not applicable. The authors would like to thank Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral.