Bay Area firefighters develop game-changing wildfire technology

SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. – Due to the fact the first significant firestorms of 2017, large technology has been increasing resources for firefighters, who nevertheless mostly work on the floor and usually with tiny info about how the general battle is likely.

Two Bay Location firefighters have made an general predicament consciousness application that other firefighters adore — and say ought to spread to other departments.

Irrespective of whether on an iPad or other tablet, the Bay-Place-produced “Pill Command” method is absolutely nothing much less than a technological video game changer for firefighters, by firefighters.

Contra Costa County firefighters William Pidgeon, who is also a computer system science expert, and Andy Bozzo, a doing work firefighter, used their true earth experiences to arrive up with the Pill Command application.

The software package is now utilised by 265 fireplace departments across North The us, and its consumer number is developing everyday.

“I was not geared up to make a mission critical software. So we raised some income with close friends and family members, established a company and partnered with a software progress company to develop the 1st version of the application,” stated Pidgeon.

The app is all about the situational consciousness of the total fireplace incident, providing facts offered to all incident commanders and 1st responders.

“The good matter about this, it can be on an iPad, which, for most departments, they can pay for to acquire,” said Chief Costa.

Ahead of Pill Command, laptop laptop or computer units that did half as substantially ended up, at minimum, twice the expense. To this working day, any departments continue to have only paper notes, paper maps and a radio, with small obtain to the significant photograph.

Two Sonoma County firefighters saw the software package function while they were being on mutual assist incidents, and they fought really hard to carry it to the Bay Space.

“I was blown absent. I was like, ‘Wow, we really want to carry this to Sonoma County,’” said Petaluma Hearth Department Assistant Chief Chad Costa.

“It is, by far, arms down, one of the finest technological innovation equipment I have at any time used,” added Sonoma Valley Hearth Battalion Chief Spencer Andreis.

Pill Command includes any area’s fireplace record, all roads statewide (which includes again streets and hearth roads), the place of just about every piece of tools and hundreds of cameras (together with distant utility cameras), neighborhood fire weather conditions and is infinitely expandable.

From the industry, firefighters can enter data in genuine time, considerably dashing up and bettering responses.

If you will find any weak point to this method at all, it occurs in distant spots the place you can find minor or no Wi-Fi. But, with business, net satellite Wi-Fi currently on the current market, that dilemma will very likely be cleared up as properly.