How GIS supports every phase of wildfire response strategy

Explore how GIS keeps wildfire response moving from risk modeling and crew coordination to long-term recovery. See how wildfire data becomes actionable across the full lifecycle, and why usability in the field is just as critical as analysis at command.

Key insights

• GIS supports wildfire response across every phase: planning, active fire coordination, and recovery.
• Wildfire assessment maps help crews identify high-risk zones and establish defensible perimeters.
• Real-time GIS platforms allow field and command teams to coordinate using live perimeter, terrain, and weather data.
• Post-fire strategies rely on GIS for burn severity mapping, ecological restoration, and long-term monitoring.
• GIS only delivers its full value when it works both in the field and at the command level.
  

How GIS supports every phase of wildfire response strategy

When lightning sparked the Dragon Bravo Fire on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, flames spread fast through dry fuel and rugged terrain. More than 13,000 acres burned. Grand Canyon Lodge was lost. Crews faced limited access, shifting winds, and vulnerable infrastructure. Fighting a wildfire at that scale called for tools that delivered real-time, field-ready information. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) filled that role, turning wildfire data into clear, usable insight.

GIS now plays a central role across the wildfire lifecycle including forecasting risk, planning defenses, coordinating live response, and managing recovery. What follows is a closer look at how these tools shape wildfire strategy in one of the most complex landscapes in the country.

GIS for fire risk assessment and strategic planning

The most effective wildfire response begins before the flames. GIS drives that early fire risk assessment work. By layering fire weather forecasts with historic fire records and patterns of human activity, GIS transforms raw fire statistics into predictive models that spotlight ignition hot-spots before a spark ever lands. GIS can integrate layers of wildfire data, including vegetation types, fuel loads, historical fire perimeters, topography, wind patterns, infrastructure, and lightning strike data. By analyzing these variables together, it highlights areas prone to ignition and rapid spread.

These models also summarize decades of fire locations in concise dashboards, letting analysts compare trends across seasons and terrain. That’s where wildfire assessment maps come in. GIS produces detailed visuals that show dense fuel zones, steep terrain, and other conditions that intensify fire behavior. This wildfire data forms the foundation for strategic planning. For example, GIS pinpoints areas where prescribed burns or mechanical thinning can create defensible perimeters around critical infrastructure or sensitive ecological zones. Agencies like the  US Forest Service rely on this approach to prioritize efforts and reduce wildfire risk before a spark even lands.

GIS also plays a critical role in planning for national park fires before they happen. Crews use it to map evacuation routes, define safety zones, and stage equipment based on fire modeling. That kind of planning reduces risk not only to infrastructure, but to people moving through the park.

Before site work begins, crews can also record GPS testing notices and active testing areas, noting any nearby signal emissions that may interfere with GNSS reception quality. Capturing this information supports coordinated GPS test requirements and ensures reliable positioning during wildfire response operations.

These same tools also support broader coordination across agencies and regions. In places like the Grand Canyon, where public access and complex terrain collide, systems like Arizona’s Interagency Wildfire Prevention and Information Network show how wildfire data improves planning and public readiness on a larger scale.

Real-time vigilance: GIS in live incident mapping and emergency response

Once a wildfire starts, conditions shift fast, and field teams need accurate data to keep up. GIS delivers real-time situational awareness by combining wildfire data from multiple sources into a single, usable view.

Online platforms like the Wildfire Enterprise Geospatial Portal (EGP) integrate and display the fire’s current perimeter, drawing continuous updates from airborne infrared cameras, ground-based sensors, and GPS-enabled field units. These systems pull together all that wildfire data into a shared operational view. With terrain, weather, and personnel data in one system, GIS lets commanders coordinate the response in real time to:

• Track fire progression based on topography, fuel, and weather
• Deploy air and ground crews where they’ll have the greatest impact
• Monitor firefighter locations and plan safe escape routes
• Share live maps with teams across the field and command structure
• Quantify the extent of wildfires in acres and visualize projected fire sizes to prioritize air-support assignments

That level of coordination is essential in national park fires where steep terrain, limited infrastructure, and public exposure raise the stakes. It gives crews the clarity they need, when time and terrain work against them.

GIS in post-fire response and planning

Extinguishing the flames doesn’t end the wildfire response. Post-fire landscapes often need months — or years — of planning and intervention. GIS plays a central role throughout that recovery process.

• Damage assessment. Initial surveys compile authoritative fire information for resource management, documenting perimeter GPS, slope stability, and the full extent of wildfires in a single view. GIS maps burn severity to identify areas with high erosion risk, damaged infrastructure, or critical habitat loss. That data helps prioritize where crews need to act first.
• Restoration planning. GIS guides revegetation by matching species to soil types, slope, and elevation. It also supports erosion control planning and flags areas vulnerable to invasive species.
• Monitoring long-term recovery. GIS compares pre- and post-fire imagery to track how the landscape responds over time. These insights shape future decisions and strengthen wildfire assessment for future events. Programs like the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER), for example, rely on GIS for fast post-fire analysis and planning.

Making wildfire data work in the field

GIS systems sit at the center of wildfire planning, response, and recovery. But as critical as they are, many platforms weren’t built with field teams in mind. Interfaces are complex. Data layers are difficult to access in real time. Field conditions like terrain, weather, and lack of connectivity only make those gaps more visible.

For wildfire data to deliver its full value, it has to move with the people who use it. That means tools need to work offline, handle real-time data, and fit the way teams actually operate on the ground. Without that, wildfire data stalls, either in the field, where it’s hard to capture, or back at command, where it’s hard to use.

The value of GIS depends on continuity, with data that moves cleanly between field, command, and every decision point in between.

Supporting every phase, from spark to recovery

The Dragon Bravo Fire showed just how many moving parts go into managing a national park fire. From modeling risk to tracking flames in real time to restoring what’s left behind, GIS tools help crews stay focused, fast, and coordinated across every phase.

For GIS to support wildfire operations, it has to deliver in both places: at the fire line and at the command post. That connection between what’s happening on the ground and the decisions driving the response is what turns wildfire data into action.

When those insights circulate seamlessly between field devices and command dashboards, decision-makers gain the timely fire information for resource management they need to allocate crews and capital where they matter most.

See how Fulcrum supports wildfire response in the field

If your team needs better tools to collect and apply wildfire data in real conditions, Fulcrum can help. It combines GIS capability with field-ready design, so crews can work without delays, even offline. Get a free custom demo to explore how it fits your wildfire workflows.