Wildland firefighters in Extremadura, an important wildlife region in western Spain, are working more safely and efficiently thanks to twelve new Magellan MobileMapper CE handheld GPS/GIS units. To improve mission-critical information on the fire line, the regional government purchased the MobileMapper CEs from Tecnosylva, a Magellan dealer headquartered in Leon, Spain. Tecnosylva recommended the rugged, high-performance MobileMapper CEs and loaded them with INFOEX (INcendios FOrestales EXtremadura), a mobile GIS application applet designed by Tecnosylva to meet the special needs and challenges of Extremadura’s wildland firefighters.
MobileMapper CE Makes Dangerous Work Safer
Wildfires have become a serious environmental problem in Extremadura, an area of 41,600 square kilometers (about the size of the Netherlands) with a population of 1.2 million. Fighting the fires is dangerous work, usually in unfamiliar terrain, often in rugged mountainous areas, and sometimes under heavy smoke conditions and at night. Accurate and detailed field information to facilitate tactical decisions can spell the difference between success and failure, even life and death.
Personal safety and fire management demands quick access to an array of accurate geographic features and information. Extremadura wildfire fighters had been using recreational-grade handheld GPS units that provided coordinates, but little else. For improved safety and effectiveness, the firefighters are now equipped with the MobileMapper CEs to pinpoint their location and view topographic maps and aerial photos that display detailed information about their surroundings, including the location of nearby roads, where they lead, contour changes, locations of water points and the amount of water available in each.
“During the recent Cabeza Vellosa fire earlier this month, the MobileMapper CE helped us to quickly get the fire under control by assisting our team with fast and easy real-time navigation, data acquisition and excellent accuracy,” said Francisco Dominguez, wildfire prevention technician, Extremadura.
Source: Magellan