GPS Fire Hydrant Mapping
19 Feb 2013
Global positioning system technology is beyond useful in its applications for GPS tracking and GPS navigation, and now, through GPS fire hydrant mapping, is helping firefighters more easily locate the nearest fire hydrant in a mission to save lives.
In Palm Beach County, Florida, there are more than 45,000 fire hydrants stretching from Jupiter to Boca Raton. These hydrants are currently being mapped with GPS devices to give first responders quick access to the nearest working hydrant as they arrive on a fire scene.
How It’s Being Done
To accomplish the GPS fire hydrant mapping, Bureau of Safety Services employees are driving down the streets of Palm Beach looking for fire hydrants that have yet to be charted. When they locate an uncharted hydrant, it gets scanned and mapped with a GPS device by holding the device over the hydrant and pressing a button. This sends a wireless signal to at least three satellites, which identifies the exact coordinates and places the hydrant location on a map.
When mapping the hydrant, the worker will also enter the water flow rates and make a note of whether or not that fire hydrant is operational.
How It Works
The web-based map, HydrantNav, is easily accessed by emergency crew and 911 dispatchers. Besides having access to the exact hydrant coordinates, HydrantNav provides the operational functionality of a particular hydrant, including its rate of water flow.
Before a firefighter arrives on scene of a blaze, he contacts his command center where dispatchers are ready to provide the mapping data. The firefighter is able to look at his own GPS unit and see an aerial view in real-time of the location of the fire as well as the location of the nearby hydrants. In addition, by clicking on the hydrant on HydrantNav, the emergency personnel can see flow rates, and learn if the hydrant is properly operating to determine whether a secondary hydrant should be used.
“Primarily, we need to know how much water is available from the closest hydrant so that we may select the appropriate size hose lines for the size and complexity of the fire, but not select lines which would exceed the capacity of the hydrant and thus be ineffective. This information is known as ‘available flow.’” said Sauls. “We also need to know the water pressure in each hydrant so that we can immediately implement the correct pumping operation at the supply hydrant.”
Firefighters won’t have to spend time looking for a fire hydrant that may not be working up to par or working at all. Instead, they’ll have that information immediately available to them.
“This saves time in fighting a fire, which can reduce damage to a structure, its contents, and reduces the potential for loss of lives,” said fire rescue Capt. Albert Borroto.
Added Benefits
There are also other benefits to GPS fire hydrant mapping. For one thing, hydrant maintenance will be improved with mapping, including greasing the caps, trimming the weeds, and exercising the valves. It is also useful for improving the water map’s accuracy.
The GPS fire hydrant mapping began months ago in Jupiter and has so far mapped over 12,000 of the 40,000+ hydrants in Palm Beach County. They have even corrected errors in the previous maps. So far, 411 new hydrants have been found that were never on the old maps and 110 hydrants no longer functioning were removed.
“The firefighters are safer by knowing what they got before they get there, and it also helps the residents because the guys don’t have to look for a hydrant when they’re rolling into the scene.” said David Sauls, a fire safety specialist.
GPS fire hydrant mapping offers the opportunity to shave crucial seconds off fighting a blaze. And when it comes to protecting property and saving lives in fighting fire, every second counts.
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