Page One

The Berkeley firefighters got to test out what could be new and important fire safety equipment Thursday: high-tech gadgetry developed by a UC professor and a handful of students to prevent recurrences of events that led to the deaths of so many at the World Trade Center two years ago.  

The technology, which incorporates several different technological advances, will help firefighters overcome some of the biggest barriers they now face including locating a fire, navigating a building and helping rescue operations find injured or trapped firefighters. 

The idea and the technology were originally developed in a UC Berkeley Engineering class called “High Tech Product Design and Rapid Manufacturing,” taught by professor Paul Wright. 

The teacher said the class is intended to allow students to build their own products, which usually means new designs for already developed consumer products. After Sept. 11, he said, some students began to re-think their product designs, motivating one team to try and design communication and information systems that they thought would facilitate the work of firefighters. 

“We began using information technology in the interest of society,” said Wright. “The students began to refocus their attention.” 

The results were designs for several new devices, including a firefighter’s Heads Up Display, or HUD, and the prototype for a new fire alarm/detector system. Together, the new technologies will allow the firefighters to access information that will help save lives and enable them to battle blazes more effectively.  

The project took flight after the team contacted several fire departments, including Berkeley’s, where firefighters were quick to realize the potential of the project. They have been enthusiastic participants throughout. 

Thursday’s demonstration marked only the second time the fire crews got a close look at the prototype, developed with the help of funds from Ford Motor Company, the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interests of Society, the National Science Foundation and Intel Corp.  

The Heads Up Display is a stamp-sized panel that fits into the firefighter’s mask and provides what Wright calls a “you are here map”—floor plans similar to those shoppers use to navigate a mall. 

One of the main concerns was keeping the panel small but effective, so the information is transmitted to a panel located in a position that doesn’t obscure vision. The display features clear, high-contrast graphics and fonts, giving firefighters exact positions of exits, stairs, walls, doors and other critical architectural features. 

Berkeley Deputy Fire Chief David Orth said that being able to know where you are going in a cloud of smoke where you can’t see six inches in front of you will be an enormous help to firefighters. 

“Until you’ve been in a burning building you don’t know how hard it is,” said Orth. “Anything that gives us the ability to navigate in that situation is really helpful.” 

Orth says that currently the only way firefighters can navigate through thick smoke is by using a wall as a point of reference and following it until they come to the next object, though sometimes they’ve been able to consult floor plans before going in or they’ve walked the building before during fire safety programs. 

The HUDs will also give firefighters information on oxygen levels as well as text messages transmitted from the incident commander outside the building via a wireless laptop. 

Another part of the technology consists of new fire directors, wireless platforms now under development involving red and green lights that will be mounted on doorways, functioning as stoplights. 

Firefighters in a stairwell will be able to see the directors on the door and know whether there is fire on the other side, as will firefighters moving from one of the floors into the stairwell. 

The directors also serve as wireless beacons that communicate information about the fire to the firefighters and to the command chief outside. In addition, they will function as tracking beacons, that keep tabs on the location of fire crews at all times. Because current satellite global positioning systems don’t work in buildings, the students had to design their own system. 

Orth praised the new system, saying it will save lives by enabling rescuers to quickly locate firefighters who get lost or stranded inside burning structures. Radios now in use sometimes don’t work in the chaos of a fire. 

When a floor or roof collapses, Orth said, “and you’re sending people back in to find someone, the trapped person probably only has about five minutes of air. Anything that makes that better is a good thing.” 

During Thursday’s test at the Berkeley Fire Tower, Wright cautioned that it will be about a year until they have “a fully robust system.”  

“We’re very happy to be able to accommodate the project,” said Craig Green, the Assistant Fire Chief and the Director of the Berkeley Fire Department’s Training Center, as he stood by and watched the UC Berkeley team working with the firefighters. “I can envision this being a real help in the future.”