Hi all,
I coordinated that Colorado Wildfire mapping effort in 2013. I am also a HOT voting member and volunteer coordinator for our Disaster Mapping program. Would be happy to talk directly with folks about this stuff. To try and put the key points in an email - it can be something HOT does, but as with most response efforts in the United States, Canada and Europe - those response agencies (such as the USFS) typically are not going to use OpenStreetMap. I had some minimal success talking with the Incident Command team for the Waldo Canyon fire in 2012 and that's what inspired my efforts in 2013. However, as Incident Command teams are 'temporary' and change with each incident, not sure those talks/efforts ever made it 'up the chain'. Of course getting and keeping the map up-to-date is ideal and as a former wildland firefighter I can say, it's really only helpful to those 'on-the-line' if the map is ready in advance; but of course the aftermath is helpful for insurance, recovery, etc. I was just looking over the Waldo Canyon burn area a few weeks back as I noticed Mapbox imagery had been updated in the area (now I think Bing has as well), but I was completely surprised because almost every one of the 346 homes destroyed have been built back, exactly the same as before - wasn't sure I was seeing things correctly until I did find a few lots that are empty and 1 or 2 homes that were built back slightly different. Guess my main point here is that we can and should map as much as we can, but unless there are some locals who want to survey once the area is safe, then tracing the buildings pre-disaster is maybe all that needs done. I do notice however it seems the imported landuse around Lake Isabella has an offset to Bing and road network. =Russ From: Jonathan Schleuss [mailto:jschle...@me.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 10:53 PM To: talk-us@openstreetmap.org Subject: [Talk-us] What should we do for wildfires? The Erskine Fire <http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4806/> [1] has burned more than 46,000 acres and killed two. It destroyed 200 structures. The perimeter of the fire is huge. What's the right response from OpenStreetMap? Should we go in and check roads? Add buildings? What if they've been destroyed? Addresses? Shelters? Other items? Is this more a role for the HOT group? I checked the talk-us archives, but didn't find a lot of "wildfire" discussion and I'd love to know what you all think is an appropriate response. There's some good background on the 2013 Colorado Wildfire Season [3]. There's also a preemptive take with Portuguese Wildfire Mapping [4]. We could probably find places inside the U.S. that are at a high risk and task those areas out. California has a shapefile. [5] I figured I'd open it up for discussion. Please reply with your thoughts. cheers, Jon Schleuss I'm a reporter and graphic artist at the Los Angeles Times. I got into OpenStreetMap about a year ago thanks to at MaptimeLA event taught by techlady <https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/techlady> and Data411 <https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Data411> . I use maps in my work almost every day. Currently, hacking on the Great L.A. County Building Import <http://labuildingsimport.com> [5]. [1] http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4806/ [2] http://www.fire.ca.gov/fire_prevention/fire_prevention_wildland_statewide [3] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/2013_Colorado_Wildfire_Season [4] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Portuguese_Wildfire_Mapping [5] http://labuildingsimport.com/
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