My more than 2 cents worth on this topic as it has been a focal point of my professional career for the past 7 years and more broadly for probably the past 15 or so as mapping technology became democratized.
I will start with just my opinion on this article. I have known Rod at RoGo for 6 or so years now, have tested his product, given feed back. I will leave my opinion of the product out but will say that it is crazy how out of touch wildfire today is with the current landscape of technology being deployed today within the USFS. Like @modcamo mentioned nearly everything that is in this article is being done at some shape today. We are tracking firefighters over sat-coms, we are putting those markers on a shared map, we are using satellite sensors to track wildfires in near real-time and also fusing that data on to a shared map interface.
What we are not currently doing widely is sort of what RoGo does in building a peer-to-peer mesh network but there are tools out there commercially ready to go that can do that. The hardest nut to crack right now when you are dismounted is getting the fireline perimeter data to the device. That can be done through satcomms but the pipe is small on iridium (this is what everyone uses) think GarminInreach, Somewear labs. So taking a multi-polygon and sending it over that network is tough.
With that said though and currently being deployed is Sat to Cell which will allow this higher bandwidth data to go out to the dismounted firefighter. Starlink with T-Mobile and AST with Verizon and ATT are the main players here. But as far as dismounted tracking back to the ICP or to Divisions/Branches that have broadband aka a starlink or cell coverage that is being done right now with Garmin Inreaches and sending into a TAK-Server and into Esri web maps etc which is why I was so surprised to see the title of the Wildfire Today article because it gives this impression that this is some crazy new concept in 2025. The reality is the Dingell act set this in motion in 2019 and this has been worked on developmentally deployed since 2015 post Yarnell.
My opinion on technology is sometimes mistaken by some. I started my fist season on a hotshot crew in 1994. I remember when we got our first GPS. I have watched the technology landscape mature in wildfire. I do value mobile technology but to call this the holy grail to wildfire safety is foolish. Nothing will ever replace a solid understanding of the basics of fire behavior and having that drive sound tactics. No amount of technology will ever solve for that. Where technology can help is having a better understanding of your surroundings and what is occurring.
Let me put it this way. Do we guess what the temperature and RH are? Or do we use technology? A thermometer and sling psychrometer and yes even a compass is technology. I am not in the camp of asking an AI interface “is it safe to go do this?” but if technology could keep me from doing something or if I do make a poor decision that perhaps a better outcome may happen because the people that are coming to help me know where I am then I say tech is worth leaning into.
@Drift_Smoke i get your sentiments and your thoughts on this are not uncommon. I taught a TAK workshop this fall and had someone from the WO in it and he had that same sort of fear. I mentioned to him that while on the fireline and dismounted i am not staring into the screen. Rather this is for me to occasionally when i need information to reference but it more useful as a command and control look down at where I am. This is really just like what we do with avenza as a planning tool but allows for real-time tracking and collaboration. Have a good safety zone? you can drop it on the map and rapidly share it. LZ, water points, etc all can be shared rapidly.
I will use Yarnell as an example. When I started there were 13 situations that shout watch out. My rooking year south canyon happens, 14 of what are supposed to be our more elite forces die in Colorado. Helitack, Hotshots, Jumpers. What comes out of that is 5 more situations. 19 year later Granite Mountain gets burned over and all perish. We did not add any more situations. They broke existing rules of engagement. This is the human factor, despite training they made decisions that led to their peril.
So in this case despite having a fully loaded DC-10 above them there was nothing that could even be attempted. At the crux of this is we didn’t know where the crew was. So part of leaning in on tracking tech this example that at a minimum we might make for a better outcome if we know where the people in the bad situation are. Left of that is could technology help keep that from happening? My eyes have played tricks on me. Ever seen smoke over a ridge and think its right there? get to the top and say oh man its over the next ridge. Now GM main factor was cutting through the green with a fire flanking them that they new was heading the same direction. You would think that alone would be enough to keep them from doing what they did but I wonder if they just underestimated how far that path was to the ranch. Perhaps you draw a line like in TAK and go man thats so much further than I thought. Perhaps a tool that calculate the reality of how long its really gonna take to get there and that keeps you from even attempting it. Of course dont cut through the green is the answer but remember human factors. We cant control that.
Now bring in more near-realtime data like we have with the FIRIS plane on where the fire is in TAK and you go nope we are on a course for disaster. Take it to a higher level and this where folks usually don’t like when I talk big brother but a digital safety officer who can see you, can see updated fire perimeter and sees you on an intersection of bad news and checks in with you on your intentions.
After all that the IWI/Mayday call. I have listened to the final radio calls of GM so many times and it still gives me chills. Everyone is confused on where they are at. Wait I thought they were in the black, why are they having to deploy shelters, where are they? The technology certainly exists now where that DC-10 could automatically drop with just having the pilot set an altitude and bearing and let the machine drop the retardant in an emergency setting even without seeing where they were on the ground because the computer knows it just needs the pilot to get the plane there.
I know I used an extreme example here with Yarnell but wit R5 getting on TAK this year I got pulled into south ops during the Gifford. The goal was to help south ops better understand the capabilities in TAK and where we could make some impact. Immediately it was on the line EMS/REMS teams and having not just tracking of where they were but with the hotshot crews having the GarminInreach sat trackers into the TAK server now the Line EMS and REMS teams could position themselves to best respond to the crews. I watched in real-time REMS teams move locations based on hotshot crew movement to ensure they were in the best possible spot for deployment. That is just a simple example of having tracking into a common interface.
@wfapdude if you care to learn more about TAK and all of this geospatial tracking of firefighters, real-time perimeters etc I have had a thread on here for about 6 years now. TAK Information-
I have pasted a couple vides below. The first is one on how this all started with a presentation I made a couple years ago about TAK and the interface of wildfire and the people making it happen. I get a little teary eyed in this. The combat controller Alan Yoshida I mentioned had passed away from cancer 7 months before this presentation. The second is a presentation i did at a firefighter tracking summit hosted by OCFA.