DHS offers proof-of-concept for vehicular Wildland Urban Interface alert system

The Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS) used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may soon be capable of providing hazard and evacuation alerts directly to vehicles’ infotainment screens.

This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) provided a proof-of-concept demonstration of a system capable of doing just that: the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) integration model. In Virginia, the agency worked with the FEMA IPAWS Program, Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management, and HAAS Alert, Inc. to integrate IPAWS with a host of technologies such as GPS and allow its updates to be provided in near real-time to drivers on the go.

“The IPAWS Program strives to find new methods and paths to effectively communicate emergency information to people that enables emergency managers to reduce the loss of life, personal injury, and property damage of disasters,” Antwane Johnson, FEMA IPAWS division director, said. “The WUI integration model will develop connected platforms capable of delivering lifesaving evacuation notifications and digital alerts from emergency officials to drivers on the road during emergencies.”

The project is a partnership between Corner Alliance, Inc. and HAAS Alert, a consulting firm and automotive digital alerting business, respectively, working together on a contract awarded through S&T’s Long-Range Broad Agency Announcement program. As a result, HAAS will integrate its Safety Cloud platform into FEMA’s IPAWS Open Platform for Emergency Networks (OPEN) system to allow receipt of emergency notifications on in-vehicle systems and certain mapping applications used by drivers.

The model demonstrated how connected platforms can offer evacuation notifications to drivers during emergency situations.

“Effective communication of emergency fire information and evacuation routes to people in an endangered area is a necessity for first responders striving to manage emergency operations and guide safe public response actions,” Norman Speicher, DHS S&T program manager, said. “Connecting emergency management tools to situations in WUIs will help emergency management officials achieve better routes and procedures by utilizing cutting-edge technologies that help define, share, and manage the status, and communicate evacuation routes and safety zones in real-time.”