L to R: Fire Commissioner Darryl Milton, Olivia Robinson (for Congressman Jay Inslee), Kitsap County Commissioner Patty Lent, Grant Writer Kathleen Byrne-Barrantes, FEMA Public Affairs Officer Mike Howard, FD 18 Chief Jim Shields, Kitsap County Fire Marshal Derrick Crawley, Fire Commissioner Linda Gunby, Fire Commissioner Chairman David Ellingson, and CEO of Action-Training Systems George Avila.

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee announced this week that Kitsap County Fire District 18 (FD18) would receive a $120,208 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the United States Fire Administration (USFA) within the Department of Homeland Security. This represents the largest award in Washington State in the category of Fire Prevention.

Fire District 18 Chief Jim Shields submitted the 2003 Assistance to Firefighters Program application last April. Under contract with Kitsap County, Kathleen Byrne-Barrantes of Grant Solutions wrote the grant proposal and helped facilitate project development with County’s project lead partner, Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Derrick Crawley.

Ever since, the buzz around the local firehouse in Poulsbo has been “Did Jay call yet?” Shields chuckled.

The project team, including essential staff from FD18, collaborated with Kitsap County Information Services GIS department and Action-Training Systems in Poulsbo — producers and distributors of training materials for firefighter and first responders nationwide.

Shields also negotiated an agreement with North Kitsap High School for students and interns training in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and “Computer Assisted Drawing” (AutoCAD) to draft fire prevention plans working with firefighters. This innovative public education partnership will have young mentoring old and vice versa while creating a sustainable program and sharing resources.

The new prevention program will position a fire prevention specialist/public education officer to coordinate development and implementation of the community wide program across jurisdictions to build and implement the efficiency gains and analytical advantages that (GIS) provides.

“This will take a concept I have been trying to explore for years - integrating GIS technology with fire prevention as a planning tool - closer to reality,” proclaimed Crawley.

“Forecasting fire is a planning tool and access to information at the right time and place can mean shorter response times, lives saved and greater protection of critical assets.”

Said Inslee; “This project combines two things I am a big fan of — that’s prevention and technology. I believe that the power of GIS technology, used as a fire prevention tool, is a new wave of firefighting. It’s encouraging to see modern techniques used with the old wisdom that a little prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

“I’m pleased to see that this federal money can help Kitsap firefighters to expand crucial fire prevention and safety efforts. Providing these brave men and women with the right resources is an important part of safeguarding our community, and assuring the best possible protection for the citizens of Kitsap County.”

GIS will be used for pre-incident fire planning and to target areas in need of education or contingencies.

Fire hydrant locations, response area requirements, hazardous material locations, commercial building locations, fire history, station location needs, and other key requirements can be analyzed and visually displayed in GIS. With the initial dispatch information placed in the system, the area of the emergency can be highlighted with property descriptions and details of the neighborhood, hydrants, and driveways before the first vehicle arrives.

Database collection will be gathered during routine fire code inspections including hydrant type, utility shutoff valve locations, occupancy, hazardous material information, building floor plans, and so forth. Knowing the contents of a building, exact location, length of hose you need when you get there and potential hazards is critical to saving lives and time.

The opportunities for planning, managing and evaluating fire service operations are virtually limitless. Mapping of hazardous materials storage sites, residences of physically challenged persons, municipal hydrants, dry hydrants, planning facility locations, emergency event modeling, and other tasks can be simplified, shortened, and made more efficient through the application of GIS technology.

Fire cause relative to number of prevention programs provided could be used to identify areas with a high occurrence of fires caused by children, which may indicate a need for a neighborhood educational program. Response times, shifting station capabilities, and station siting will be optimized by mapping and comparing incidents by stations, resulting in more lives saved.

Mapping locations of homes burned will be used in fire prevention programs to target and encourage residents living in those areas to adopt prevention measures. The benefit to participating residents could be insurance premium incentives. Additionally, this grant will provide funding for the purchase and installation of smoke alarms and fire extinguishers in areas with high incidents of fire.

In uncertain times, firefighters must prepare to respond to a melange of fire emergencies, hazardous materials or toxic conditions, incidents involving weapons of mass destruction or catastrophic disasters in an earthquake zone. This program will assure that our community and mutual aid is equipped to plan, prepare, and mobilize at the critical level of response required while providing our community with the education and training to increase team efficiency.

Inslee supported legislation in the past Congress that authorized FEMA and the USFA to make grants directly to local fire departments. The U.S. Fire Administration, part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Department of Homeland Security, has so far awarded $619 million to 7,800 fire departments with more than $17.5 million going to departments in our state.

For more information, FD18 Chief Jim Shields can be reached at (360) 779-3997 and Kitsap County Fire Marshal Derrick Crawley at (360) 337-4442.