I don’t know if we will ever see another Aero Union P-3 air tanker flying over a fire in the United States, but to refresh your memory, check out this simulation of two P-3s working a fire near Aguanga, California.
We used to think our four-projector system with two four-track reel-to-reel tape recorders and five actor/role players at Descanso, California was pretty sophisticated, but computer technology has taken simulation training for wildland firefighters to the next level. In an article at Firehouse.com, Mike Archer has assembled information about the current state of computer-based wildfire simulations, and compares products from three companies. They range from a basic system that takes a still image onto which you overlay smoke and flames (like our system at Descanso did), to a very customizable computer graphic-based image in which the trainee can fly around to see the incident from different vantage points. The prices for these systems range from $230 to $10,500.
Check out Mr. Archer’s article, (where three videos of the simulations will automatically begin playing simultaneously). Here is an excerpt about one of the products.
Based in Boise, ID, Bravo Delta, Inc, is the parent company of Total Immersion Simulation Systems (TISS), purveyors of a unique fire simulator that uses animation to allow users to model a wide variety of situations, including wildfires. The TISS environments are powered by E-sembles’ XVR [short for eXercise Virtual Reality and eXam Virtual Reality] training software. Through the use of XVR, they offer 2D or 3D visuals for their simulated environments. Their simulator packages are scalable from a single PC program to custom-made environments with immersion rooms or dome projection. Dennis Hulbert, a partner in Bravo Delta and a 38-year veteran of the fire service who retired as a Regional Aviation Officer with US Forest Service, provides some insight on this unique simulator.
“Our action-based scenarios use the latest technology to support ‘active learning’ [the learner is not restricted to follow a predefined learning path and not restricted to reading and observation] by immersing students into operational and tactical learning domains where, as individuals or working teams, they engage in interactive role playing with other trainees and educators,” Hulbert explained. “An active learner can interact with other trainees and the educator in the simulated environment and can learn by experimenting in the learning domain.”
Trainees have a variety of ways to experience the simulation. “Using a joystick, XVR allows one or more incident response professionals to walk, drive or fly around in the simulated reality of an incident,” Hulbert explained. “While the students are distracted by surrounding noise and confusion, they are expected to focus on their tasks and to set priorities.”
Visually simulating the spread of vegetation fires has advanced far beyond the four overhead projector system we used to use at Descanso Station in southern California. The system described in the video below from KOB.com uses a projector connected to a computer to place an image on a sand table, resulting in an amazing three dimensional background on which to simulate the spread of fires. Check out this video.
More information, including a better video explaining how it works, is at Simtable.com.
An assistant professor of computer science at Georgia State University has received $1 million from the National Science Foundation to develop a new computer model to assist wildland firefighters. Because, God knows, we don’t have enough computer models already that firefighters have to use.
Here is an excerpt from an article by Georgia State:
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Xiaolin Hu, along with colleagues at the University of Oklahoma and Texas A&M University, will be combining several simulation models. These will be put into a larger model for the sake of helping firefighters decide what to do to help keep wildfires more contained.
“We can take what we call firefighting resource characteristics as an input, as well as fire spreading data to perform a calculation to compute optimal resource deployment,” Hu said. From there, the model will be able to simulate how the deployment of resources will work to suppress the fire.
The simulation will show the spreading of a wildfire in realistic terms. Many factors will be taken into effect including wind speed, humidity, type of vegetation, and personal machinery resources. Analyzing the three aspects of the simulation, weather operational models and the wildfire into the larger, more complex model is a complex job.
“Even with an update from a weather station each minute, the conditions are not going to be the same all of the time and across the whole area, and this is especially true in a wildfire situation,” he said. “The weather is going to influence the wildfire, and the wildfire is going to influence the weather conditions. So, with this grant, we’re trying to couple wildfire model with the weather model.” Thanks Kelly
Fire simulators can provide a very valuable opportunity to test and improve your firefighting skills. On the Cleveland National Forest we used to use four overhead projectors to produce images of the landscape, smoke, and fire on a rear projection screen, two 4-track reel-to-reel tape recorders and a mixing board for sound effects, and up to 10 people to run the simulation and act as role players. I have not seen the new computer-based simulator that is being used this year, but I hope it is at least as realistic as the earlier systems.
The Daily Courier in Prescot, AZ has a story about firefighters going through an exercise using a simulator and sand table.
Here is an excerpt:
Well aware that numerous agencies often come together suddenly to battle dangerous wildfires, Prescott-area agencies gather each year to brush up their skills before the traditional wildfire season begins.
“Firefighters from a variety of agencies look over a sand table model to plan their next action steps for the 1,200 acre fire they were responding to as part of the annual Basin Drill at the Prescott Fire Center. Photo courtesy of The Daily Courier, Les Stukenberg
“We’re testing ourselves to a level we’ve never tested before,” Prescott Fire Chief Darrel Willis said as he surveyed more than 50 people in the incident command center room alone. “Look at all the agencies here. There’s a comfort level when you see people you know. We know what we can expect from those people.”
Such training can save the lives of firefighters as well as citizens who live in wildfire-prone areas of the Prescott region.
“Communications are always going to be difficult,” Bentley said, so training helps immensely with smoothing out radio compatibility issues. Firefighters also learned some lessons about setting up an incident command system quickly so the span of control is clear, he said.
The sand tables are literally that – wooden tables covered with sand that firefighters mold to mimic the actual fire terrain. They add miniature trees, homes and fire trucks to the scene. They move red strings and cotton balls forward to represent an advancing wall of fire.
The Forest Service started making its computer simulator widely available just this year, Bentley said.
Fire instructors input U.S. Geological Survey computerized topographical maps into the simulator, then add as many as 20 types of homes along with local vegetation, roads, streams and even propane tanks.”
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on Fire simulations advance to the next level 
