Technology is making firefighting safer and more efficient for crews battling the 19,500-acre Zaca Fire.

With the help of an infrared camera, laser pointers, spotter scopes and other high-tech gear mounted on the front of a United States Forest Service helicopter, support personnel at the Live Oak Camp are able to provide firefighters with daily full color operational and topographical maps showing where the Zaca Fire has burned.

A company called Michelle's Emergency Services, one of several contractors that respond to disasters such as this fire, is providing two trucks converted to mobile communications units. Inside are computers, printers, copy machines and a self-supporting office with three workstations for computer savvy firefighters to mount their attack.

On Sunday those fire fighters included Cherie Klein, a geographic information systems coordinator for the USFS from the Sequoia National Forest; Denny O'Neil, a fire captain from Cal Fire of San Luis Obispo; and Rich Strazzo, a captain from the Tuolumne Calaveras Unit of Cal Fire.

According to O'Neil, an operation as large as Michelle's, which responded to Hurricane Katrina, is provided only when it is determined that local firefighting

companies cannot handle the size and scope of fire.

A program called Firewatch helps support personnel process the real-time data received from the infrared cameras -- which can see hot spots through smoke, but not clouds or fog -- after the data is sent from a technician in the helicopter to a van equipped with a GPS-guided microwave antenna and computers.

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The information is displayed on the computer screen as maps that show firefighters where the fire is the hottest and where it has burned.

O'Neil explained that he can also punch wind speed data into a computer program called Wind Wizard and show, in map form, what the wind will do to help or hamper crews as it whips through the rugged canyons and steep terrain -- such as the topography the Zaca Fire crews currently face.

Technicians can compare and contrast all this data to the GPS information gathered by fire crews on the line. They can then add graphic displays of fire lines, safety zones, drop points, helicopter bases , threatened structures, current trails and more to help firefighters working in the field.

“They have a good set of maps and know what their job is,” Strazzo said. “They will know where parts of the fire will be dangerous.”

With the help of Michelle Sadler of Riverside-based Michelle's Emergency Services, and her two employees who take “cat naps” during their 24-hour shifts, the topographical maps are then printed each night using large, 36-inch wide printers called plotters. Single briefing maps may be as long as 11 feet, and each can be taped together to show gigantic wall-sized maps of the area.

Sadler said 500 Incident Action Plans and booklets loaded with 12 pages of maps were printed out and sent with division commanders and various agencies Sunday to aid in the fight. Saddler's crew prints out the handouts in a four-hour crunch each night.

The information is also uploaded to the Internet, where government agencies can track the fire's progress.

Maps showing ownership of the various properties and areas that will need to be rehabilitated after the fire has burned are also created.

Rich Simpson from the National Weather Service also is part of the technological fire fight. Sunday, Simpson sat in a nearby mobile unit offering on-the-spot weather forecasts using a laptop computer tied into the organization's satellite system.

Sitting next to Simpson, Tim Chavez of Cal Fire of Riverside used current weather conditions and the path of the fire to compare it to historical data on past fires. This information will assist with predicting how the vegetation might react to the fire.

Chavez said the technology is provided so that firefighters will know what to expect each day on the fire's front lines.

“We don't ever want (firefighters) to be surprised,” Chavez said.

Radio communications is also an integral part of the fight.

Fire Captain Matthew Cox of the San Diego Cal Fire unit said eight portable repeaters have been hiked in or dropped by helicopters at various locations along the perimeter of the Zaca Fire.

Using more than 100 hand-held radios, fire crews can safely communicate with supervisors among dozens of different VHF frequencies. A portable dispatch center with two dispatchers on duty at all times handles the traffic, and can send in support if a firefighters gets injured.

What if an unforeseen circumstance caused the technology to fail?

Crews would be most likely be taping together topographical maps and writing on them like in the days before technology played a role in firefighting, O'Neil explained.

“We have a backup plan,” O'Neil said. “There is always a backup plan ... .”

Steve Fairchild can be reached at 489-4206, Ext. 5014, or sfairchild@santamariatimes.com.

July 16, 2007