AFAC Conference 2015 Abstract

2. The Science and Modelling of Hazards

The City of Casey working in partnership with the Victoria Police have developed an Evacuation Resource Mapping Tool for seven local townships considered vulnerable to the threat of bush and grassfires within the municipality.

The technology works on a layered GIS mapping system that subdivides each community into overlayed evacuation sectors and zones. Data from this mapping layer is then captured and placed into a PDF format for portability.

The evacuation mapping resources are developed to be utilised by Victoria Police undertaking evacuations during a bush or grassfire emergency. Concurrently, the above data can be viewed on a screen within the Municipal Emergency Coordination Centre (MECC) with the capacity to turn layers within the IntraMaps Fire Management Module on or off to adapt to the unfolding emergency.
Community Evacuation In-field Worksheets have been developed to complement the resource mapping tools and are for utilisation by police officers on the ground undertaking such evacuations. These worksheets (including maps) reflect the location of properties within the colour-coded sector and zone areas within each ‘at-risk’ community. Facilities and points of interest have been highlighted within each worksheet for ease of identification and prioritisation by the evacuating officer(s) out in the field.
These resources are portable (on USB) to enable remote access and use at a Regional Control Centre should the request be made.

This technology has the capacity to enhance the potential to better coordinate response functions between the MECC and officers on the ground conducting an evacuation in real time, and in future, these mapping resources could be extended to capture potential access and egress routes, vulnerable people and facilities, and any other relevant location where community members may gather in times of emergency (e.g. sports ovals and community centres).