Beecher Falls Volunteer Fire Department, VT, NH, and Quebec:  

Mitchell Geographics Develops GIS and GPS Capability for a Multi-State,Multi-National Service Area with MapInfo Tools

Customer:   Beecher Falls Volunteer Fire Department

Need: To improve response time to emergencies within a complex and politically disjointed service area, the department needed a system to quickly and accurately  retrieve maps identifying the locations of emergencies and to navigate to locations using built-in GPS to track their position over a base map.

Problem: The department is the primary responder in three towns in Vermont, three      towns in New Hampshire, and four towns across the Canadian border in Quebec.  The  fragmentation of the service area across state, national and linquistic borders, coupled with the remote rural characteristics of the region, often creates confusion and ambiguities when dispatching personnel to the locations of emergencies.  In addition, the unique geography of the department’s service area does not lend itelf to the use of existing map resources which could support service planning and preparation.

 Beecher Falls Volunteer Fire Department provides service to an isolated rural region where political boundaries are trumped by rugged terrain.  Located in the upper reaches of the Connecticut River Valley, the department is not only responsible for both the Vermont and New Hampshire sides of the river, but is also dispatched through customs to the adjoining, sparsely populated area of Quebec.  As a consequence, the department enlisted the assistance of Mitchell Geographics when developing MapInfo geographic emergency response tools for their unique situation.

 

The initial hurdle was the compilation and consolidation of available data resources from three distinct service areas.Vermont, New Hampshire and Quebec each have GIS systems in place for E911 programs, but they all use slightly different data protocols and standards.  A distinct format that could incorporate data from all three sources was developed by Mitchell Geographics, and the source data was subsequently adapted to allow for data visualization and querying across the region.

Due to the fact that most volunteers in the department are American citizens, a detailed accurate map of the Quebec service area is not always sufficient for finding locations of emergencies.  For this purpose, Mitchell Geographics recommended DeLorme’s Earthmate GPS receiver which can provide real-time GPS tracking information over a base map in MapInfo.  The department plans to equip one or more of their trucks with a ruggedized Laptop computer and GPS unit to aid navigation through rural and unfamiliar sections of the service area.

Another goal of the process is to develop large-scale plots and and a large-scale map book for the service area with all locations identified by address and building type.  The result will be the first comprehensive map the department has ever had of their service area.  A full wall-sized plot will be installed in the department headquarters to allow for dispatching assistance and response planning.

 

Mitchell Geographics is also providing MapInfo Professional GIS training to department volunteers and coordinators to develop in-house capacity for on-going data management.  The department plans to invest time in validating and editing the E911 data provided by the states/province on a regular basis.  To this end, the training focuses on the basics of GIS data attribution and visualization.

As the Beecher Falls Volunteer Fire Department progresses in their familiarity with GIS and GPS technology, there may be opportunities for custom applications that streamline certain processes.  Mitchell Geographics plans to continue to work with the department to identify what procedures could benefit the most from custom development assistance and to provide such assistance when necessary.