FireWatch

Upon receiving a fire report, one or more vehicles are dispatched based on the fire's severity. Each vehicle's crew includes a leader, a driver, and two squads. The vehicles leader is the commander for the operation and is responsible for keeping the overview and planing the different stages of the operation including the attacks, executed by the forces of one squad.

The Attack is the process in which a squad enters the burning building. This squad is then called attack squad and has, besides extinguishing fires, the task to controll every room for remaining persons.

The operation leader and the attack squad communicate with each other via an operation-wide radio channel. In 10 minute periods the leader asks the attack squad to read out the remaining airpreassure. If the air is sufficient, the squad gets more time inside the building otherwise the commander gives the order to retreat.

The commander has limited knowledge on what the squad is doing inside the building. This means it's difficult for them to tell where the squad was and where they should go next. The squad inside the building doesn't know about its detailed layout and has very limited sight.

These information lacks result in rooms, that aren't checked properly and increase the risk of overlooked persons.

Firewatch is supposed to solve this problem, by providing the commander with information on the movement of the attacking squad.These movement profiles are collected, besides other data, by a combination of different sensors and technologies. This data is displayed live on a tablet, that is carried by the commander.

The movement profile is drawn on top of a ground plan of the corresponging level, the squad is currently on. This enables the command to adjust the attack plan and provide appropriate instructions. The attack is divided into phases, synchronized with the 10-minute cycle. They are displayed on a central timeline, showing the progress of the current attack.

Between attacks, the command can inspect the collected data further and identify irregularities and gaps in the movement profiles of all previous attacks. This enables them to adjust the attack plan and for the next attack.

To determine the attacking team's position, an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) is added to the emergency forces' equipment, utilizing various sensors to measure changes in momentum. While IMU data can indicate movement over time, without external reefing points, the data gets increasingly distorted over time. To address this, the IMU data are compared to the results of internal and global triangulations, for deviation corrections and precise positioning.