High-tech app developers hope to save lives and property in Colorado wildfires and other disasters

In the military, the "fog of war" refers to the sense of paralysis, panic and confusion that comes with the chaos of combat.

But that fog not only impacts U.S. troops in foreign lands, it can impact first responders here at home.

"They need to know on the battlefield where the good guys are, where the bad guys are, where the hazards are. And in our public safety world, we need to know where the wildfire is, where our firefighters are," says Brad Schmidt, wildland fire projects manager with the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.

And he says there's now an app for both. Developed by the military, it provides a clear picture of a battlefield, whether it's in the Middle East or the mountains of Colorado's Western Slope.

Schmidt says Colorado is the first to offer the app, called Colorado Team Awareness Kit or "CO-TAK," to all state and local public safety agencies.

"Whether you're a cop on patrol or a search and rescue volunteer or a firefighter, this app is for you," he said.

Originally designed to prevent friendly fire incidents, the app shows the exact location of every soldier in a combat zone or, Schmidt says, every officer on a crime scene: "If they're pursuing a suspect on foot, they're able to see where that officer is at."   

Agencies can use it to track the location of their personnel only, with encrypted channels for specialized units like SWAT, or for larger disasters, they can switch to a statewide channel.

"You download the app onto your phone, you turn the app on and now you're able to see the location of all the first responders around you and coordinate activities in support of public safety," says Schmidt.

He says it not only shows where first responders are but where aircraft like slurry bombers and medevac helicopters are. It even records lightning strikes and picks up hot spots in wildfires.

"We're able to see the perimeter of where that fire is burning, we're able to see some of the vehicles from our firefighting agencies that are out on that," Schmidt said. "I can even tap on the fire to learn about it, so I can see what are the GPS coordinates of that wildfire, what resources are assigned to it, how many acres is it."   

The app has access to all CDOT cameras, satellite imagery and maps with topography, altitude, longitude and latitude.

"Imagine a hazmat incident where you want to make sure no one gets within 500 feet of a tanker car," says Schmidt. "I can literally draw that shape out in a map, send that out to all the units on the scene, and now everyone knows where the incident commander wants them to stay out of."   

Ryan McClean with the Department of Defense helps develop the software that he says is becoming even more advanced.

"It's so hard to make good decisions in high-pressure environments," McClean said. "That's really what TAK does for the end user. It allows users to make better decisions because they have better information about whatever they're fighting, whether it's a wildland fire or military adversary or something in between."  

Schmidt believes the app will be a game-changer for first responders in Colorado.

"Gives them that clear picture of 'that's our battlefield,' right? Just as the military has their battlefield, this is where we do our work, and now we can map it out in real-time," he said. "Ultimately, this is about saving lives and property."  

While CO-TAK relies on cell service, it's also compatible with satellite trackers in remote areas. Schmidt says 120 agencies in Colorado are now using it and he hopes to deploy it statewide over the next couple years.