* Photo: Jessica Haye and Clark Hsiao * Firefighters are known for their bravery (and their popularity with the ladies). But geek cred? Not so much. Brian Humphrey is trying to change that. From a decommissioned bomb shelter four stories beneath Los Angeles City Hall, this 23-year veteran is single-handedly hauling the city's fire department into the Web 2.0 era. He has about 80 projects in the works—involving everything from Twitter to BlogTalkRadio—that will not only help broadcast urgent information to the public but also gather crucial intel to assist first responders on the ground.
"Short of motorized fire apparatuses, this technology is the best thing that's happened to our department in 122 years," Humphrey says. "It holds more potential to save lives than any other civic tool." Nice, but can it rescue kitties from trees?
__Twitter __
Humphrey monitors for keywords like "LA" and "fire." During 2007's 800-acre burn in Griffith Park, he got real-time reports on flare-ups and wind directions from Twitterers on the ground, then relayed the information to commanders battling the flames.
__Yahoo Pipes __
This data-aggregation app lets Humphrey keep tabs on crises elsewhere. (In September, he knew about a poison gas scare in the Toronto subway as it happened.) Implication: If terrorists launch a multicity attack, he'll know in seconds. A head start could save countless lives.
__Mobile Alerts __
One of Humphrey's projects-in-progress is a Web site where users can plug in addresses—like home and the kids' school. Whenever an incident is reported at any of those sites, the system will beam a notification to the subscriber's cell phone or PDA.
__Map Mashups __
The LAFD already charts major fires with Google Maps. Humphrey wants more: images that blend street and satellite views with USGS topo data to supply firefighters with critical info, like the location of steep terrain or other hazards (dynamite factory, two blocks north!).
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