GIS SpecialistS & Wildland Fire Assignments

GIS = Geographic Information Systems = Mapping

One of our partner agencies, Guardian Medical Transport provides GIS mapping assistance through Aaron Seifert, a national qualified GIS Specialist, to support wildland fire incidents to our partner agencies, using an industry standard of ESRI’s ArcGIS Pro desktop and server software for easier communication exchange between agencies.

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a system that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data. GIS connects data to a map, integrating location data (where things are) with all types of descriptive information (what things are like there). This provides a foundation for mapping and analysis that is used in science and almost every industry. GIS helps users understand patterns, relationships, and geographic context. The benefits include improved communication and efficiency as well as better management and decision making.


An example of multiple layers of a land area represented in GIS

Aaron is a member of a national Incident Management Team, or IMT, which manages rapidly-spreading and complex wildland fires and other multi-hazard incidents using Incident Command Structure, or ICS. GIS Specialists are part of the Planning Section, Situation Unit of ICS.  Below is the Incident Command Structure layout of positions. ICS is scalable and the large percentage of wildfires use just a couple Divisions within the Operations Section.

Incident Command System with Command staff of Public Information Officers, Liaisons, Operaitons, Planning, Logistics, and Finance. GIS is within the Situation Unit of the Planning Section

Past initial attack, and as an incident becomes larger than the local resources can handle, Incident Management Teams are requested that are local, regional or national. There are several levels of IMTs based on complexity, such as Type 3 and Complex Incident Management Teams, or CIMT, which were known as Type 2 and Type 1 IMTs. Team members from Arizona and New Mexico and are on call throughout the year. They play a vital role in incident management directly at the scene; constantly gathering new information hourly to provide daily to incident operations, regional and national incident management, and the general public. 

Most of the assignments are for wildland fires. Daily work on assignments lasts up to 16 hours for two weeks at a time, at which point another IMT rotates in, if needed, and incidents can be located anywhere within the United States. Annual days on assignments could be several months. Work is done on site or remotely using internet management mobile apps and desktop software to communicate conversations, smart map files, images, and interactive maps with all IMT members. All this incident work experience is brought back to share with local agencies and to better respond to local incidents.  Wildland fire incidents are searchable and listed at inciweb.nwcg.gov which consumes the on-incident GIS mapping work to the general public.

Map data for publishing updates are done several ways with overnight Infrared mapping and interpretation, verbal updates throughout the day from operations, and mobile device apps used by operations personnel.
ESRI's Field Map app is used by operational personnel to not only download an offline copy of the online map data for the incident in a specific area, but also capture new location information and then sync back to the online map data once back in reception of cell or WiFi internet.

In the last several years Guardian Medical Transport's GIS Specialist, Aaron Seifert has worked on IMTs for most recent Flagstaff area wildfires: 2019 Museum, 2021 Rafael, 2022 Tunnel, and 2023 Cecil fires.  These are in addition to many other wildland fires around the western United States in the past 15 years.  Experience gained from other assignments in the Southwest and the Western United States plays an important role to assist our local Flagstaff area wildland fire Operations Sections with each Fire Department, District or National Forest. 

Here are examples of different types of maps produced for incident personnel (click on an image to open a larger image):

Typical Incident Public Information Map showing the fire perimeter, area closures, transportation, landmarks, and perhaps aerial imagery as a background

Typical Incident Public Information Map

Typical Incident Evacuation Map that is in coordinateion with local Sheriff and Police Departments. It shows transportation, landmarks, evacuation areas with status of Ready, Set, or Go and Planning.

Typical Incident Evacuation Map that is in coordination with local Sheriff and Police Departments

Typical Operations Map for Air Resources that shows an area around the fire perimeter with aerial hazards, any airspace restrictions, boundaries and incident landmarks.

Typical operations map for Air Resources

Typical Briefing map provided for speaker reference at daily day and perhaps night operational periods. This shows the fire perimeter and area in larger symbols to be read in the back by a large group around the speaker and to provide reference on locations for the speaker of transportation, boundaries, and landmarks.

Typical Briefing map provided for speaker reference at daily day and perhaps night operational periods