California
Fire
As a UX designer and full-stack developer, I rescued the State of California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection from a legacy paper process with a modern web-based solution that manages real-time emergency data.
We Didn't Start
The Fire
- Billy Joel
Eureka
California has been battling fires upwind for decades against accelerating climate change, historic droughts and inversely decreasing budgets.
Paper Process
Critical portions of the fire incident management process was bogged down by unreadable handwriting of tired personnel in the field.
Responsiveness
In emergency situtations, responders and residents need accurate real-time data on any device and where connectivity may be limited.
Accessibility
Every State of California’s website is mandated to comply with California Government Code Sections 7405 and 11135 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0.
November Rain
- Guns N' Roses
Maps
Navigated the technical and financial issues around the scaling and spiking of request volume. Migrated the public facing Google Maps API implementation to ESRI ArcGIS Javascript API.
Baby Got Back
Critical fire incident updates can now be submitted from the field and be approved by managers and local authorities within the backoffice of an Umbraco Content Management System.
Oye Cómo Va
Not just accessible on any browser or device, now the content is available in more than a dozen languages via the Google Translate API.
California Love
Forged a custom library of reusable Umbraco components by leveraging a standardized accessible look and feel provided by the State.
2020 Fire Season
4.2M
Acres Burned
10K
Incidents
33
Fatalities
10K
Structures Burned
What I learned
Even the largest organizations can be agile when the fire is burning hot enough. Constant clear communication improves response time and saves lives in emergency situtions.
Grow With Me