With the hiring of its fourth full-time firefighter, the Holmen fire department hopes to move its technical capabilities into the 21st century. Todd Shaffer, who has been a volunteer firefighter since 2002, started Monday in the new position of infrastructure coordinator.

In his new role, Shaffer will be updating the department’s mapping capabilities.

Fire Chief Doug Schober said having the maps updated would “definitely” improve response times.

“Anytime you can improve your mapping or directions for an area of response, it’s always an improvement,” he said.

On the other hand, he added, so far there have been no incidents where the existing maps have resulted in delayed response times.

While he volunteered as a firefighter for the past five years, Shaffer’s profession has been as an architectural draftsman for the past nine years at Biesanz Stone Company. He brings computer-aided design skills to the department to update the maps.

Up to now, the maps used by firefighters to direct them to emergency sites have been hand drawn with addresses written in.

Large scale maps hung in the truck garage are so outdated hardly anyone ever uses them. Even Shaffer’s home address, where he has lived for three years, is not on the wall maps.

Each truck in the department is equipped with a book of the hand-drawn maps. When called out, the firefighter in the passenger seat of the truck is the navigator, using the map book to direct the driver.

“We need physical paper maps for the trucks,” Shaffer said. “We need resources in the trucks to know where to go and what’s involved (at the scene).”

Shaffer anticipates a lengthy process. “It’ll take quite a while to get a grip (on all the addresses).

“It’s my job to be updating all the maps we use and keeping them updated,” Shaffer said. “There’s a lot of new streets and subdivisions and we don’t have maps for those addresses. What we have is kind of primitive; it’s hard to keep it updated. The guys who have worked on it in the past have been doing a good job. But with the growth, there’s no way to keep up with the system we have.”

The new maps will include the entire 60-square-mile area the fire department serves and will include a variety of important information, such as where hazardous materials are stored and other critical emergency data.

While Shaffer said it might take up to a year or more to get everything updated, one technology he will be reviewing is the county’s new aerial photography capability.

The county has purchased, through a $235,000 grant, software from a company called Pictometry that shows high-resolution aerial views of cities.

A location can be seen from a wide view or zoom in to see the actual building, how many stories, how much glass, intersections, fire hydrants, elevation, latitude and longitude and many other features that will be helpful to emergency responders.

The county intends to share it with municipalities and citizens without charge, according to La Crosse County planner Charlie Handy. Municipalities that use the service will have to invest in computer equipment and systems that can accomodate the operating system and large data base and graphic components.

The city of Onalaska is considering bringing the capability to city departments as well as installing a terminal for public use at City Hall. The city would not charge private users for just viewing, only for copying, downloading or e-mailing a particular view.

According to Joe Barstow, GIS coordinator for Onalaska, the images are at least 160 gigabytes, so the system is not readily adaptable for personal computer use.

Shaffer said he would be exploring Pictometry as well as other software to see what works best for the village of Holmen. He is hoping to not have to start the project from scratch, but is prepared to do that.

Contact Jo Anne Killeen at joanne.killeen@lee.net or 786-6816.