Daniels/Catalyst Digital Ethernet Interface Product Pressed into Wild Land Fire Suppression Support
What started out as a small blaze caused by discarded embers from a wood stove quickly turned into a conflagration which consumed nearly 1,100 acres in South Central Virginia recently.
On Saturday, March 4th, a blaze dubbed the "Quarry Fire" (for it’s proximity to a rock quarry) evolved into a major incident which was battled for several days by more than 120 people from local, regional, state, and federal agencies.
Initially, radio communications between the myriad agencies was nearly non-existent.
Dispatchers at the George Washington/Jefferson National Forest in Roanoke, Virginia, had to handle unique requirements such as flight following, aircraft monitoring and dispatch.
A new digital end-to-end Radio over IP (RoIP) dispatch solution using IP|25D, a new product from Catalyst Communications Technologies, Inc., www.catcomtec.com and the Daniels MT-4 radio with a new module called the Universal Interface Card (UIC) were being beta tested at the forest at the time.
Up until this point, the software had received nominal use on routine Forest Service traffic in what could be called a "test" environment.
Due to the increased radio activity associated with coordinating myriad agencies, IP|25D and the UIC were pushed into around-the-clock emergency service.
The IP|25D gateway at the main Forest Service office in Roanoke was dedicated to flight following and dispatch operations.
Kim Brookshire, chief dispatcher at the George Washington National Forest explained that the system was used to monitor radio traffic and talk to 3 aircraft (two helicopters and a small plane).
These aircraft were used to perform such tasks as oversight of "back burning" acreage to contain the fire, carrying water buckets, and providing senior officials a good vantage point from which to monitor fire-fighting efforts.
According to Ms. Brookshire, "I was able to maintain constant contact with the aircraft using Radio over IP on our North Net and South Net channels."
According to all involved, the interface worked seamlessly.
When asked her opinion of the system, Ms. Brookshire smiled and said "One question, I want to know what we have to do to keep this equipment after the beta test!"
To learn more about the UIC card visit our website and download the brochure http://www.danelec.com/pdfs/brochure_eng_RoIP.pdf .
