{"id":566352,"date":"2025-04-03T19:44:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T19:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?post_type=blog&p=566352"},"modified":"2025-04-03T19:44:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T19:44:18","slug":"before-its-too-late-making-every-moment-count-in-wildfire-preparedness","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/before-its-too-late-making-every-moment-count-in-wildfire-preparedness","title":{"rendered":"Before It\u2019s Too Late: Making Every Moment Count in Wildfire Preparedness"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m outing myself as the lead author of the National Wildfire Evacuation Guidance being led by the United States Fire Administration (USFA). To make sure this guidance hits the mark, the USFA is hosting several evacuation tabletop exercises. At the kickoff of day two of one of these exercises\u2014just as folks were settling in with their coffee\u2014the facilitator posed a question to the room:<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWhat is the biggest worry you have for your community during a wildfire?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
A USFA facilitator leading an evacuation tabletop exercise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

I could fill a notebook with answers to that question. I might need several notebooks. But narrowing it down to a single, fundamental concern? That is difficult\u2014I couldn\u2019t immediately think of an answer. So, I sat and listened as the mic made its way around the room.<\/p>\n\n

The answers were exactly what you\u2019d expect from seasoned fire and law enforcement professionals:<\/p>\n\n

– Lack of egress for residents
– Public apathy toward preparedness and mitigation
– Extreme fire behavior
– Lack of political will to enforce building codes
– Delays in evacuation notifications<\/p>\n\n

All of them valid. All of them serious. And all of them feeding into the same fundamental issue.<\/p>\n\n

My answer?<\/p>\n\n

Time.<\/p>\n\n

Time is the common thread that runs through almost every challenge we face in wildfire response. It\u2019s a little philosophical, sure, but it\u2019s also the undeniable reality of what we do.<\/p>\n\n

We are always in a race against time:<\/p>\n\n

– A race to plan before a fire occurs
– A race to reduce risk through fuels treatments and homeowners
– A race to convince homeowners that, yes, this can happen to you<\/em>
– A race to notify the public before the fire is at their doorstep
– A race to evacuate entire neighborhoods\u2014often through choke points that were never designed for a hurried exit<\/p>\n\n

When a jurisdiction fails to plan, it costs time during the response. When fuels treatments aren\u2019t prioritized, fire spreads unchecked, buying itself time to intensify. When homeowners ignore mitigation, it costs responders time to defend individual structures\u2014time that could have been better spent.<\/p>\n\n

And here\u2019s the hardest truth:<\/p>\n\n

Time has a way of exposing what wasn\u2019t done.<\/p>\n\n

The gaps in planning. The hesitation in decision-making. The delays in action. They all surface when the clock is ticking down, and the fire is moving fast.<\/p>\n\n

Tools are available to help us make the most of the time we do have\u2014GIS, real-time data, and modeling. Technology won\u2019t solve all the problems, and it only gets us so far if we don\u2019t use it proactively. But when we do, it saves time. GIS helps us see what\u2019s coming before it\u2019s at our doorstep. It maps evacuation routes, identifies bottlenecks, and turns fire models into something actionable\u2014something that buys us time.<\/p>\n\n

So, I guess the question is: what are you doing with your time?<\/p>\n\n

Because the fire isn\u2019t waiting, and we don\u2019t have to either.<\/p>\n\n

Learn more<\/h2>\n\n

To learn more about GIS solutions for wildland fire, visit our solutions page<\/a> or download our ebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>","protected":false},"author":1122,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[204],"tags":[287,1031,4852],"class_list":["post-566352","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public-safety","tag-gis","tag-public-safety","tag-wildfire","industry-fire-wildland"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBefore It\u2019s Too Late: Making Every Moment Count in Wildfire Preparedness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Time is the biggest challenge in wildfire response. 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