InFORM/Inspector User’s Guide

National Forests in Florida

27APR2020

V4.0

(Adapted from INFORM INSPECTOR USER’S GUIDE INSPECTOR VERSION 1.0, available at https://in-form-nifc.hub.arcgis.com/pages/in-form-user-guide; contains excerpts directly from that document.)

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ContentsIntroduction.................................................................................................................................................2

AGOL Accounts and InFORM/Inspector.......................................................................................................3

Accessing and Using InFORM Inspector:......................................................................................................4

If You ALREADY HAVE a _nifc Account AND an Inspector Role:...............................................................4

If you ALREADY HAVE a_nifc Account BUT NOT an Inspector Role:.........................................................4

If You DO NOT have a _nifc Account:.......................................................................................................4

If You DO NOT KNOW if you have a _nifc Account:.................................................................................4

USING INSPECTOR FOR FIRE REPORTS:.........................................................................................................4

EDITING A FIRE REPORT..............................................................................................................................5

Incident Information............................................................................................................................6

Point of Origin (POO) Information:......................................................................................................8

Size and Perimeter:............................................................................................................................10

Chronology:.......................................................................................................................................11

Site Descriptors and Outcomes:........................................................................................................12

Fire Cause, Complexity, and Management........................................................................................13

Miscellaneous:...................................................................................................................................14

Appendix 1: The Quick Version (courtesy of J. Zepeda):........................................................................15

Appendix 2: Editing the Point of Origin (POO) Location in Inspector desktop.......................................16

Appendix 3: Website Links for InFORM: Inspector................................................................................20

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IntroductionIn the spring of 2020, FIRESTAT was replaced by InFORM/Inspector for the

completion of fire reports. This system is part of a suite of applications designed to link WildCAD, IRWIN, WFDSS, and FAMWEB-209. This system is linked to NIFC Collector accounts. All users are considered Inspectors, but there are varying levels of access.

InFORM Inspector is the web-based application that allows users to:

• Edit an incident

• Certify an Incident

• Create a Final Fire Report

• View and edit incidents in conflict

• Upload incident records

• Download incident records

• Reporting

• Create a new incident for users who don’t use a CAD or have another means of recording an incident

The role the user is assigned in Inspector affects the functions the user can perform in Inspector.

Roles are as follows:

InFORM Inspector Role Description/What they doCertifier Highest-level access. Using InFORM Inspector

can certify any fire report, thereby indicating: data collection phase is done, report is complete, data is accurate and can be used for official statistics. Also has Editor role capability. For FL-FNF, these are ZFMO’s.

Editor Can review and edit any fire report using InFORM Inspector. Also has Mobile User role capability. For FL-FNF, these are your IC’s and GISS’s.

Viewer In InFORM Inspector, can run summaries,

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generate/print individual fire reports, and export data. Cannot add/delete reports or modify data. “You can see it, but not change it.” For FL-FNF, this includes Line Officers, FICC, and selected support personnel.

AGOL Accounts and InFORM/Inspector

-Two kinds of ArcGIS Online accounts are used by FL-FNF personnel. The usernames for both are very similar, but are linked to different capabilities:

-NIFC accounts are used for fire suppression, all-hazards response, and fuels treatments. As of Spring 2020, they are also linked to InFORM/Inspector for all IC’s to complete fire reports. The username format is generally the first part of your FS email address followed by _nifc (e.g. “sbear_nifc” or “smokey.bear_nifc”).

-USFS accounts can be used for field work in fire and other disciplines; these are the accounts that FL-FNF personnel have been using to collect data on Rx fires, wildfires, and RCW operations. These accounts have usernames ending in “_usfs,” (e.g. sbear_usfs or s.bear_usfs).

For FL-FNF operations, the _usfs data is managed locally by unit GISS’s. Although _nifc users have the capability of working directly with Collector in the field, Ocala NF users will continue to Collect local fire data using _usfs accounts; FL-FNF GISS’s will then import the field data into the NIFC database. Contact your district GISS for direction on the process specific to your forest.

InFORM/Inspector requires the use of a _nifc user account for ArcGIS online (AGOL); A _usfs account will not allow access to Inspector.

Accessing and Using InFORM Inspector:Using InFORM inspector requires the use of a _nifc account. As of 27APR2020, all FL-FNF personnel having responsibility for turning in fire reports or needing access to these have been granted _nifc accounts on AGOL; these personnel already have been granted Inspector Roles appropriate to their responsibilities.

***InFORM/Inspector is designed for use in Google Chrome***

If You ALREADY HAVE a _nifc Account AND an Inspector Role:Skip the following section and go to Using Inspector for Fire Reports: in the next section.

If you ALREADY HAVE a_nifc Account BUT NOT an Inspector Role:Go to the NIFC InFORM/Inspector Hub, and Start at Step 2.

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If You DO NOT have a _nifc Account: Go to the NIFC InFORM/Inspector Hub and follow the steps there, beginning at Step 1.

If You DO NOT KNOW if you have a _nifc Account: Go to www.arcgis.com , click on Sign In, then click the blue Forgot Username link, type in your email address and information will be emailed to you .

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A NIFC ACCOUNT, OR DO NOT HAVE AN INSPECTOR ROLE, SEE THE TABLE ON PAGE 3 FOR YOUR ASSIGNED ROLE AS YOU GO THROUGH THE SETUP PROCESS.

USING INSPECTOR FOR FIRE REPORTS: It is suggested that users only access Inspector on a PC workstation when working on fire reports; it is possible to do them on a mobile device but is easier on a PC.

1) Go to the Inform/Inspector page 2) Sign in using your _nifc account.3) Click the link to “Inform:Inspector” in the paragraph on left hand side of the page4) A new window should pop up asking if you want to sign in to Inspector. Click “yes.” 5) A map will open with filter column on left.6) Using the filters, choose SACC from the “GACC” dropdown, and choose Florida from the

“State” dropdown. Zoom the map to FL if it doesn’t automatically. You can also manually pan and zoom the map with your mouse.

7) Your screen should then look something like this:

8) Select the incident you want to work on by clicking the name. In this case it is the NE 314 State Assist.

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Fires are initially buffered by a triangular area based on fire size.

9) Missing fields in the report will be highlighted in orange, and a message at the top of the report will notify you of the total number of missing or incorrect fields.

10) Click “edit” to begin editing the report.

EDITING A FIRE REPORT Since FICC uses WildCAD for tracking fires and resources, most of this information will be filled out for you. Fields in red and gray are required and are filled out by FICC or WildCAD and are not editable; fields in pink are required and editable. Fields in blue are not required and are editable.

When users click Edit at the top of the incident window, editable data elements become active. • Only users with Editor or Certifier roles can edit

• The incident summary section at the top indicates in red the total number of missing required data elements. Note: Users cannot directly edit any information in the summary section

• Groupings with missing required information will have an alert in red text indicating how many required fields are missing in that grouping

• To save changes, click Save Changes. To exit without saving changes, click Cancel.

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Incident Information

Incident Name (Required): The incident name comes from WildCAD but users can edit the incident name here.

Incident Type (Required): The incident type defaults to Fire. Other options appear in the list, but for now Inspector is built to handle Incident Type of Fire.

Incident Category (Required): The Incident Category defaults to Wildfire. Other options appear in the list and are dependent on the Incident Type selected. These domain values are managed in IRWIN.

Unique Fire Identifier (Required): This field is NOT editable. It is auto-generated in IRWIN when the incident is created. It is comprised of the Discovery Date year, the Protecting Unit ID and the Local incident Identifier.

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Local Incident Identifier: This field defaults to the value in Incident Name but can be edited. Field size requires a maximum of ten (10) digits. A number or code that uniquely identifies an incident for a local fire management organization within a particular calendar year.

FireCode: If the incident has a fire code, it will display here. This field is NOT editable.

IRWIN ID (Required): This field is auto-generated in IRWIN and CANNOT be edited.

USFS Job Code Prefix: If needed, enter a two-character code to indicate the Forest Service job accounting code for the incident. This is specific to the Forest Service. Usually displayed as a 2- character prefix in FireCode.

ABCD Misc.: If needed, enter a four-character fire code used by USDA FS to track and compile cost information for emergency initial attack fire suppression expenditures. For A, B, C & D size class fires on FS lands. If ABCD Misc is populated, then FireCode is NOT a required field.

Is FS Assisted: If needed, choose from options True or False to indicate if the Forest Service provided assistance on an incident outside their jurisdiction. Was this a mutual aid fire, or was it on USFS property? If it was mutual aid, select “yes” from the dropdown box.

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Point of Origin (POO) Information:

Latitude/Longitude: This information is linked to the point of origin (POO), and cannot be edited unless the POO is changed. POO location is expressed in decimal degrees, using the NAD83 map datum.

Landowner Kind: Choose an option from the list. Federal, Other, Private.

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Landowner Category (Required): What is the ownership at the origin? For most smaller fires, select from the dropdown box. On larger fires, the perimeter information can be used to auto-search a linked GIS database. Note that in some cases the owner can be different than the jurisdictional agency.

GACC (Required): Derived by IRWIN. For FL-FNF, it is SACC.

State (Required): Derived by IRWIN. The US State at POO.

County (Required): Derived by IRWIN. The County Name identifying the county or equivalent entity at POO designated at the time of collection.

Dispatch Center ID: This is populated with the derived value but can be edited here. Also see below for derived value. A unique identifier for the dispatch center that intersects with the incident POO. For FL-FNF, FICC.

Derived Dispatch Center ID: Derived by IRWIN. A unique identifier for the dispatch center that intersects with the incident point of origin. For FL-FNF, FICC.

Jurisdictional Agency: Enter the abbreviation for the agency having land and resource management responsibility for an incident as provided by federal, state or local law. What agency is responsible for firefighting at the origin?

Jurisdictional Unit (Required): NWCG Unit Identifier to identify the unit with jurisdiction for the land where the point of origin of a fire falls. THIS FIELD REQUIRES 5 CHARACTERS, CODED “FLFNF” FOR FL-FNF FIRES.

Protecting Agency: Indicates the agency that has protection responsibility for the incident. “Should be coded as “FS”

Protecting Unit (Required) : National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Unit responsible for providing direct incident management and services to an incident pursuant to its jurisdictional responsibility or as specified by law, contract or agreement. Protecting Fire Department ID: Under Construction, not currently used.

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Size and Perimeter:

Calculated Size (AC): Inspector can calculate this using perimeter data from Collector if you logged into your NIFC account and used Collector. Enter the acreage manually.

Current Size (AC): This number can be typed in using your size from Avenza or a GPS unit. Must be 0.1 acre or larger.

Perimeter information will be updated by FL-FNF GISS’s using data from our local _usfs Collector accounts.

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Chronology:

These fields are mostly self-explanatory; “created on” indicates when the incident record was created in WildCAD/IRWIN; “Discovery” indicates when FICC was notified of the fire, and “Certified date time” indicates when the report was certified accurate by the ZFMO.

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Site Descriptors and Outcomes:

Fuel Group: The primary fuel model type that best represents fire behavior in the incident area; what’s there? The selection you make here will affect what the system pulls up for you in the “fuel model” field.

Fuel Model (Required): This information can be derived from LANDFIRE. Describes the type of fuels found within majority of the incident area. This uses the newer 40 fuel models; click “derive” for the system to determine it for you.

Responder Injuries: The number of reportable on the job injuries that happened on the fire.

All other fields in this section are self-explanatory.

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Fire Cause, Complexity, and Management

Fire Cause (Required): human, natural or unknown.

Fire Cause General (Required): Options available in the list are dependent on Fire Cause selection. Agency or circumstance which started a fire or set the stage for its occurrence; source of a fire's ignition. For statistical purposes, fire causes are further broken into specific causes.

Fire Cause Specific : Options available in list are dependent on Fire Cause General selection. A further categorization of each General Fire Cause to indicate more specifically the agency or circumstance which started a fire or set the stage for its occurrence; source of a fire's ignition.

Cause Investigated: Select Yes or No. Indicates if an investigation is underway or was completed to determine the cause of a fire.

Initial Strategy: Make selection from list: Full Suppression, Point Zone Protection, Confine, or Monitor. The fire strategy initially used on a wildland fire; the general plan or direction utilized until it succeeds or changes. This field is optional except for Forest Service incidents.

Initial Strategy Successful: Choose true or false. Indicates if the initial fire strategy for the incident was successful.

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Miscellaneous:

In Fuels Treatment?: Enter true or false. Is the fire in a Rx block, timber harvest, or area where silviculture has been working?

In NFPORS?: Enter true or false for the National Fire Operations Reporting System (NFPORS). Indicates whether the incidents point of origin lat/long intersects with a completed or planned fuels treatment. CAN BE LEFT BLANK

Trespass?: Enter true or false. Indicates if the incident is a trespass claim or if a bill will be pursued.

Report Narrative: Enter up to 4000 characters. A summary of the comments in narrative form as entered on the final fire report to describe important aspects of the incident. (from the back of your tri-fold)

Created by System: Derived from IRWIN InFORM (auto-filled by the system)

User Name: The NIFC ORG username of the last InFORM user to edit the record.

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Appendix 1: The Quick Version (courtesy of J. Zepeda):

Log into Inform at https://in-form-nifc.hub.arcgis.com/

1) Go to the Inform/Inspector page2) Sign in using your _nifc account.3) Click the link to “Inform:Inspector” in “Step 4” on this page.4) A new window should pop up asking if you want to sign into Inspector. Click “yes.” 5) A map will open with filter column on left.6) Using the filters, choose SACC from the “GACC” dropdown, and choose Florida from the

“State” dropdown. Zoom the map to FL if it doesn’t automatically. You can also manually pan and zoom the map with your mouse.

7) Select the incident you want to edit. 8) Click “edit.”

-Most of the required fields are auto-filled by WildCAD.

According to Juan, there are 5 (4) fields that consistently pop up as of 22APR2020:

THESE ARE ALL REQUIRED.

1. Initial response time (It is on the WildCAD run card sent by FICC. Use date/time the first resource was enroute to the fire).

Fire Cause (General).

2. Fuel Group.

3. Fuel Type.

4. Initial Strategy.

*A complete report is best, but these are the required fields that are not auto-populating.

FICC will be asking/working with WildCAD and InFORM developers to ascertain if these field can auto-populate in the future.

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Appendix 2: Editing the Point of Origin (POO) Location in Inspector desktop

Editing Origin:

To edit the origin on an incident:

1. Open the Incident Details screen (either by clicking on the incident on the map, clicking the “…” button, then selecting View Incident Details, OR by clicking the single right arrow to the right of an incident in the incident list)

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2. Click the Edit button to the right of the incident name. Edit Origin and Edit Perimeter options display at the top of the incident map.

3. Click Edit Origin.

*Note that when you click “edit origin,”, a set of crosshairs appears on the map. Move these to the desired location of the origin and left click to place the origin at the crosshairs. THIS IS THE EASIER OPTION.

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4. Make the necessary edits and then click the checkmark to save the change. Clicking the X will cancel the change. Note that the option exists to use DD.dd°, DD°.mm’, or DD°mm’ss”

a. Be extremely careful if you attempt to manually enter the lat/long coordinates; the system will attempt to autofill the lat/long fields while you are typing, which will cause significant errors in the location. For this reason, manual entry is not recommended until this issue is resolved.

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5. Click “Save Edits” to save your changes.

NOTE: Origin information is pre-loaded into InFORM/Inspector from WildCAD. Note that there are TWO lat/long locations in each WildCAD report; one is the Initial, which is the rough location of the fire when it is first reported, and the other is the Actual, which is updated once resources arrive on-scene. Inspector treats these as the point of origin. It is important that the origin (or area of the origin if a specific point cannot be determined) is correct in Inspector. Using the initial lat/long from WildCAD can result in the origin showing up outside the perimeter on the Inspector map, which will cause an error. Make sure the Actual origin is entered into Inspector, or you may not be able to complete the report for the fire until you do.

For reporting purposes and documentation FICC would require a POO latitude and longitude. WildCAD run cards can and have been used a legal documentation for trespass and investigation purposes.

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Appendix 3: Website Links for InFORM: Inspector

NIFC InFORM: Inspector Hub: https://in-form-nifc.hub.arcgis.com/

InFORM: Inspector User Guide: https://in-form-nifc.hub.arcgis.com/pages/in-form-user-guide

Inspector Website: https://irwin.doi.gov/inspector/

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