Images taken in 2010 have replaced outdated 2006 images, with the update covering areas around the
Google Earth Overlays are available to members through the Maps Online section of the CFA Intranet, under ‘Commonly Requested Maps.’
These show key CFA boundaries and infrastructure (listed below), as well as boundaries used by other government agencies including DSE, MFB, SES, local government and the Bureau of Meteorology.
Tom Sanderson of GIS Mapping Services said that the new satellite images were a great deal better than what CFA had imagined and hoped for.
“Now we have detailed and accurate images of semi-rural and urban fringe areas, not just the metropolitan areas,” he said.
“Because the images can be overset with district boundaries, they can also integrate with the EIMS (Emergency Information Management System) Mapper.
“Most people think about Google Earth as something you use to check out your next holiday destination but it’s also great for brigade planning.”
To download the overlays files, members need to have Google Earth installed on their computer – this can be accessed free from www.earth.google.com. It is recommended that anyone wishing to access the files (in KMZ format) use Google Earth version 5 or above.
Inner-metropolitan areas already have high-quality aerial photography images on Google Earth – and these images were not changed in the recent update.
The following updated overlays are available on Maps Online:
CFA Boundaries
- CFA District Boundaries
- CFA Region Boundaries
- Incident Control Centre Footprints
- Total Fire Ban Districts
CFA Infrastructure
- CFA Fire Stations
- CFA District Headquarters
- Level 3 Incident Control Centres
- Divisional Command Centre Locations
- CFA / DSE Fire Towers
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