Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service selects web mapping from Cadcorp

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) has selected Web Map Layers 8.0 to help the service better understand the geographic distribution of incidents in their service area, and in doing so, help both prevent and respond to them.

Data, Performance and Development Manager at TWFRS, Ross Hall, explains the drivers behind the acquisition: “All fire and rescue services are under pressure to do more with less, and TWFRS is no exception. Our analysts in the Data and Information (D&I) team at TWFRS have been working successfully with Cadcorp’s Workload Modeller for a number of years. This software has been invaluable in helping us work smarter by optimising the way in which we deploy our resources. Web Map Layers will allow us to take the same location intelligence which is behind this resource planning and performance monitoring tool, and make it more widely available throughout the service. As a result, it will take pressure off the D&I team in TWFRS who are currently responsible for answering requests for geographic information. In most cases Web Map Layers will allow users to access the information themselves.”

Ross is keen to stress that Web Map Layers is not a replacement for existing systems that handle location, but rather an enhancement. “We already have an incident recording system in place. Amongst other things, it records the location of each incident. Web Map Layers will provide a cartographic front end to this SQL Server database. It will display the recorded location of the incident against a map background, and it will give the user the ability to amend the location interactively.”

Also included in the contract, is the Cadcorp Fire Incident Query Tool. Instead of logging an information or analysis request with the GIS team, TWFRS staff will be able to query an incident database themselves through a forms interface. It will be a simple matter to return results from queries such as ‘Show all house fires, where the source of ignition was a cooker’ in a particular area, and for a specified time period. Web Map Layers will build the SQL query and respond with results in the form of tables and maps.

It is intended that Web Map Layers will become a generic resource in TWFRS, widely available, and ready to support a range of strategic and tactical operations. Ross provides the following examples: “We will be able to combine our own risk data with other data sources such as flood maps provided by Environment Agency or anti-social behaviour provided by Northumbria Police and display the results as hot spot maps. Web mapping will be invaluable in confirming the location, building footprint, and size of premises before our inspectors carry out Fire Safety visits. The system will also provide a map-based front for displaying premises records in the Community Fire Risk Management Information System (CFRMIS).”

Martin McGarry, managing director of Cadcorp commented: “Many fire and rescue services are having to respond to reductions in funding by developing new and sophisticated approaches to the way in which they assess and manage risk. We are pleased that geospatial technology and products from Cadcorp are able to play an important role in providing the location intelligence that underpins these approaches.”

About Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service serves a resident population of 1.104 million people divided amongst the five constituent councils of Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland in the North East of England. The Service covers an area of 538 square kilometres and borders with Counties of Durham to the south and Northumberland to the north. It accounts for 43% of the North East’s population in just six percent of the total land area.

About Cadcorp

Cadcorp is a British software development company focused on geographic information system (GIS) and web mapping software. It offers a complete suite of products - the Cadcorp Spatial Information System® (Cadcorp SIS®) - addressing all phases of spatial information management. Cadcorp software is currently helping forty-one UK fire services in protection, prevention, and response. Cadcorp SIS is available worldwide through a network of Cadcorp partners and through a direct sales team in the UK and Ireland. To find out more, please visit www.cadcorp.com