{"id":443952,"date":"2021-06-29T19:59:59","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T02:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcnews&#038;p=443952"},"modified":"2021-06-30T14:02:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T21:02:50","slug":"fire-department-improves-hydrant-inspections-with-arcgis-field-maps","status":"publish","type":"arcnews","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/fire-department-improves-hydrant-inspections-with-arcgis-field-maps","title":{"rendered":"Fire Department Improves Hydrant Inspections with ArcGIS Field Maps"},"author":5752,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[465131,1041,211],"tags":[165742,420242,18742,101,276572],"arcnews_issues":[474922],"class_list":["post-443952","arcnews","type-arcnews","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arcgis-field-maps","category-collaboration","category-public-safety","tag-fire-department","tag-fire-hydrants","tag-inspections","tag-mobile","tag-public-works","arcnews_issues-summer-2021","arcnews_sections-your-work"],"acf":{"short_description":"The all-in-one app enables firefighters to easily find asset information, collect and edit data on the go, and report real-time locations. ","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The Charlottesville Fire Department, which provides fire response, hazmat, and emergency medical services to residents of Charlottesville, Virginia, is a top-rated fire department. Accredited through the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, it has a Class 1 rating from the Insurance Services Office, meaning it is well-equipped to put out fires throughout the community.\r\n\r\nOne requirement for upholding this rating is that fire departments have to inspect all the fire hydrants in their jurisdictions. For Charlottesville, this means inspecting about 1,500 fire hydrants throughout the city and on the University of Virginia grounds."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":443962,"image_position":"left","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"For years, Charlottesville firefighters performed these inspections using a time-consuming paper-based workflow. To make this process more efficient, the Charlottesville Fire Department implemented ArcGIS Field Maps, a new all-in-one app from Esri that enables mobile workers to easily find assets and information, collect and edit data on the go, and report their real-time locations.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe had the opportunity, through Field Maps, to refine our entire process and make it firefighter friendly,\u201d said Joe Powers, the deputy chief of community risk reduction for the City of Charlottesville.\r\n<h2>Inefficient Inspections<\/h2>\r\nPrior to implementing a digital solution for fire hydrant inspections, Charlottesville firefighters had to slog through an inefficient manual process.\r\n\r\nUsing printed-out spreadsheets to locate each fire hydrant, the firefighters recorded their findings on pieces of paper. Back at the station, they transferred their notes to a form and emailed that to the Charlottesville Department of Public Works, which maintains the fire hydrants. If repairs were needed, the firefighters would follow up with a phone call to the department to ensure that a work order was created.\r\n\r\nTo move away from this, Lucas Lyons, a system performance analyst for the Charlottesville Fire Department, created a digital hydrant inspection process in 2018 using a mobile data collection app. The app had limitations, though.\r\n\r\n\u201cUsers in the field were asking for developer-level requests,\u201d Lyons said. \u201cI found we quickly hit walls, and I became somewhat frustrated by the [app\u2019s] limited features.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":443972,"image_position":"right","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"In addition, the City of Charlottesville organizes all the city\u2019s data in a spatial database, but, according to Lyons, it was largely inaccessible to the fire department.\r\n\r\n\u201cI had no ability to edit that, and neither did the firefighters,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\nLyons lobbied to get access to the database, but even then, it wasn\u2019t very open. In the end, it actually made collaboration difficult.\r\n\r\nAfter two years of trying to make this digital process work, Powers began looking into more efficient ways to have firefighters inspect hydrants.\r\n<h2>An All-In-One App<\/h2>\r\nPowers not only wanted to completely move away from a paper-based process, he also wanted each inspection to be tied to that hydrant\u2019s record. He and Lyons were cognizant that some users weren\u2019t familiar with GIS, so they needed the digital solution to be user-friendly as well. Field Maps\u2014with its data collection and editing capabilities, digital maps, and ability to capture location tracks\u2014ended up fitting the bill.\r\n\r\nUsing just a feature layer of the hydrants, Lyons created the fire department\u2019s Field Maps solution. The app groups inspections first by firefighting unit and then into three different shifts, which ensures that the work is divided up equitably and enables firefighters to see which inspections have been completed by people on other shifts. Additionally, Lyons color-coded the inspections (for example, a green dot means that the hydrant has already been inspected) to provide at-a-glance information.\r\n\r\n\u201cWith Field Maps, you have a way to collect data without having to go through this whole process of [asking], Where should this data live? You just need to set up a feature layer, and you\u2019re good to go,\u201d said Lyons. \u201cI like that.\u201d\r\n\r\nAfter Powers and Lyons received some training on Field Maps from Esri, they created a three-minute training video to educate firefighters on how to use the new app. The video showed Lyons using Field Maps to do a hydrant inspection."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":443982,"image_position":"left","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"\u201cWe made a few little tweaks to [the app] once we were out on the street testing hydrants,\u201d said Lyons. \u201cThen we deployed it to our firefighters.\u201d\r\n\r\nPowers said the app was so straightforward that several firefighters went out with their iPads and other mobile devices the day it was released to inspect hydrants. And according to Lyons, the firefighters asked very few questions.\r\n\r\n\u201cI think [the app is] a game changer for the fire services,\u201d Powers said. \u201cIt allows firefighters to record information and collect data [using one app], and it\u2019s what the fire department needs to be successful in collecting data.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI think we\u2019ll have more and better data in the future [by] having an application like this in users\u2019 hands,\u201d Lyons added.\r\n<h2>Quick and Collaborative<\/h2>\r\nSince implementing Field Maps in November 2020, the Charlottesville Fire Department has expediently completed two inspection cycles for its 1,500 fire hydrants. According to Powers, the new, streamlined process has helped decrease the workload while increasing productivity.\r\n\r\n\u201cFrom a staffing perspective, [firefighters] are not spending as much time on the street doing hydrant inspections because they\u2019re not writing it all down,\u201d said Powers. \u201cThey\u2019re doing it one time, and it\u2019s done.\u201d\r\n\r\nRather than having to write emails, make phone calls, and scan paper work related to hydrant inspections, Charlottesville\u2019s firefighters can complete other tasks, such as taking hazmat or online training and keeping up their physical fitness\u2014all of which is part of a firefighter\u2019s job, according to Powers.\r\n\r\nIncreased collaboration was also an important outcome of the Charlottesville Fire Department\u2019s Field Maps implementation. Being able to visualize all hydrant inspection data in real time and see who is doing what has eliminated a lot of duplicate work. And Lyons built the dashboard to track all this in an hour\u2014something he attributes to having reliable data."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":443992,"image_position":"right","orientation":"vertical","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"\u201cIn the past, administrators and the crews didn\u2019t have that kind of insight,\u201d Lyons said. \u201cWhen the last hydrant was inspected and that form was turned in, then the whole process was done. But now we can track, in real time, how that\u2019s happening using dashboards.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe real-time updates from Field Maps have also improved the fire department\u2019s communication with Charlottesville Department of Public Works. Having the data and documentation for hydrant inspections as soon as it\u2019s ready allows staff members there to create work orders for repairs more quickly.\r\n<h2>Technology That Works<\/h2>\r\nPowers believes that, from an administrative perspective, team members have gained a huge amount of organizational equity because they seized an opportunity to improve an inefficient process.\r\n\r\n\u201cOne of the big benefits is the goodwill of our workforce, who now believe in technology and see [that] it can work,\u201d said Powers. \u201cWhenever we can show a win and show that life is easier with technology, that\u2019s good, because that hasn\u2019t always been the case.\u201d\r\n\r\nFollowing such a favorable deployment of Field Maps, the Charlottesville Fire Department plans to use the app for hydrant inspections every year as well as broaden its use. One project will be to use the app to track the installation of free, city-provided smoke alarms.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhen you say, \u2018We\u2019re going to increase your productivity and save you time,\u2019 it\u2019s almost a pipe dream,\u201d said Powers. \u201cBut with Field Maps\u2026that\u2019s exactly what we did.\u201d"}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fire Department Improves Hydrant Inspections with ArcGIS Field Maps | ArcNews | Summer 2021<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The all-in-one app enables firefighters to easily find asset information, collect and edit data on the go, and report real-time locations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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