Breakthrough Alert Messaging for a Mobile Public

he Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) refers to the rapidly growing areas of land that lie between the urban sprawl of cities and towns, and the undeveloped more rural and forested countryside and mountains. It is in the WUI that the danger and damage from the growing risk of wildfires is most prevalent. Of paramount importance is alerting people in the path of fires and enabling their safe evacuation from the area. That’s why the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is leading the charge to help provide innovative communication solutions that are pushed directly to the public.

With this in mind, S&T partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Corner Alliance, and other industry collaborators to develop the WUI Integration Model.

It functions as an enhancement to existing emergency alerting capabilities by sending critical information to the public over a new medium—the infotainment consoles in their vehicles. However, the plan for this innovative approach didn’t stop there. The concept also included forging a new pathway to send specific geolocation information regarding wildfires to the vehicle’s street mapping application. That way, the drivers could see on their console maps where they are in relation to a wildfire. With that knowledge, they could then take steps to avoid it or exit the area.

Eventually, the plan is to integrate those capabilities with real-time routing instructions that can also be sent to the vehicle’s navigational mapping system. Then, just like being guided to the best detour to get around a traffic accident, drivers will be able to follow the directions to safely evacuate away from a wildfire impact zone.

Once the WUI Integration Model was stood up, the team collaborated with Fairfax County Virginia’s Office of Emergency Management (Fairfax OEM). In August 2022, they held a live demonstration to test the potentially game-changing technology in a real-world scenario.

According to S&T Program Manager Norman Speicher, “Wildfires, flooding, and earthquakes are all examples of emergencies that can be very dangerous. Incidents of this nature require appropriate and timely action to be taken by the public, especially by those who might find themselves in harm’s way. The situation on the ground can change quickly, so people need real-time evacuation routing when necessary. To that end, the work we’re doing supports FEMA to improve communication with the public in the WUI.”