NORTH COUNTY, CA -- Fire crews who come to battle wildfires in North County will now have better information about the area, thanks to a system borrowed from Army forces serving in Iraq.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection on Thursday adopted a color-coding process that will be used statewide to help fire strike teams working blazes in unfamiliar areas know the hazards in high-risk communities.
CDF division Chief Bill Clayton, in charge of North County, came up with the idea of adapting the military system for firefighting last September. CDF's North County area has been coded, and the system is being developed in other rural areas of San Diego County.
"This system will save lives and property," Clayton said Thursday in an interview.
San Diego's Fire-Rescue Department and the Orange County Fire Department have also adopted the wildfire neighborhood color-coding plan, which the military developed last spring.
"It's a quick response guide," said John Jondall, San Diego assistant chief. "You get the address (a fire team is assigned to protect) and look it up. We have a lot of canyons and open areas."
He said the color-coding plan may take more than six months to become fully operational in San Diego.
The system is based on the color-coded cards the U.S. Army Reserve uses to help new troops in Iraq.
In that country, reserve Army soldiers can look at the cards for political, military and other information to help determine lethal risks in unfamiliar cities.
"So when you pull up in the Humvee, you know whether to load up the machine gun or hand out candy bars," Clayton said.
In California, fire crews will know that red means a building is at high risk to burn; yellow, moderate risk; and green, low risk. In case a firefighter is colorblind, numbers are assigned to each color.
The color-coding system will include neighborhood information about firefighter and civilian safety, hazardous materials, communications, vegetation conditions, topography, water, building construction, roads in and out of a community, the availability of aircraft and landing zones, and flight hazards.
"The hardest part is to keep it simple," Clayton said. "It has to work for a firefighter that's dirty, tired and hungry."
One of the first places color coded was Palomar Mountain, because of the high number of trees killed by bark beetles and the few ways up or down the mountain, officials said.
Palomar Mountain is the most detailed area in this county under the new system, because it's the most dangerous and hazardous place, Clayton said.
The mountain information includes the Bailey Meadow and other neighborhoods, Palomar Observatory, state parks, campgrounds, schools, Palomar Christian Conference Center and key roads.
"I think it's a fabulous idea," said Bonnie Phelps, Palomar Mountain resident and real estate agent. "I think the more time that can be saved in crisis situations, the better."
