InciWeb
| Type of business | all-risk incident web information management system |
|---|---|
| Area served | United States |
| Industry | web information management system |
| URL | inciweb |
| Launched | 2004 |
InciWeb is an interagency all-risk incident web information management system provided by the United States Forest Service released in 2004.[1] It was originally developed for wildland fire emergencies, but can be also used for other emergency incidents (natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes).[2]
Introduction
[edit]It was developed with two primary missions:
- 1. Provide the public a single source of incident related information
- 2. Provide a standardized reporting tool for the Public Affairs community[3]
Official announcements include evacuations, road closures, news releases, maps, photographs, and basic info and current situation about the incident.
Incident information can be accessed by:
- web browser at https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/
- Twitter[4]
- RSS web feed
Technical
[edit]The original application was hosted at the United States Forest Service - Wildland Fire Training and Conference Center, at McClellan Airfield, California, comprising three servers:
- Database server
- Administrative server
- Load balancer for the public content which routes traffic to a pool of eight servers.
Web traffic averages 2 million plus hits daily during the fire season with the ability to handle 3.5 million hits.
The servers were moved to the National information Technology Center (NITC),[5] Kansas City, Missouri on July 16, 2008, along with the release of version 2.0;[6] the current version is 2.2.
Availability issues
[edit]InciWeb was having technical difficulties due to the high volume of Internet users trying to access the site during the September–October 2006 Day Fire[7] and the Summer 2008 California wildfires.[8]
Participating agencies
[edit]- United States Forest Service
- Bureau of Land Management
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Fish and Wildlife Service
- National Park Service
- National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
- Department of the Interior Office of Aircraft Services
- National Association of State Foresters
- United States Fire Administration
These same agencies are also in the National Interagency Fire Center.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ [1] Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. Alexa Internet.
- ^ About Us, National Geographic Area Coordination Centers (GACC).
- ^ About this Site. InciWeb. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
- ^ inciweb on Twitter
- ^ Enterprise IT Solutions: About NITC. Office of the Chief Information Officer, United States Department of Agriculture.
- ^ Public home page for InciWeb Archived 2009-09-16 at the Wayback Machine. MyFireCommunity.Net - Neighborhood. The professional collaboration site for wildland fire practitioners.
- ^ Case Study Archived 2009-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, Emergencity.
- ^ InciWeb Problems Are Bull…. June–July 2008. W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking, Western Institute for Study of the Environment. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
External links
[edit]- Inciweb official website
- Judith L. Downing, Ronald W. Hodgson, Jonathan G. Taylor, and Shana C. Gillette. Fire Information for Communities at Risk in Interface Wildfires: Lessons Learned From the 2003 Southern California Megafires. pages 135-152 in Fire Social Science Research From the Pacific Southwest Research Station: Studies Supported by National Fire Plan Funds. August 2008. United States Forest Service. InciWeb is mentioned on page 139, footnote 11.