Situational awareness platform for Canadian public safety and emergency management. Data is fetched automatically — no manual refresh needed.
| Feed | Source | Client | Cache |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAAD Alerts | Pelmorex TCP | 10 sec | Live |
| Heartbeat | NAAD | 15 sec | Live |
| Weather Radar | RainViewer | 2 min | 2 min |
| Wildfires | CWFIS (NRCan) | 5 min | 5 min |
| Hotspots | NASA FIRMS VIIRS | 5 min | 10 min |
| Earthquakes | USGS | 5 min | 5 min |
| River Levels | ECCC Hydrometric | 5 min | 10 min |
| Air Quality | ECCC AQHI (obs + forecast) | 5 min | 15 min |
| Power Outages | FortisAlberta + ATCO Electric + BC Hydro | 5 min | 5 min |
| NOTAMs | Configurable | 5 min | 10 min |
| Smoke Forecast | ECCC FireWork (WMS) | Client | WMS tiles |
| Situation Ticker | Claude AI (Anthropic) | 5 min | 5 min |
| Space Weather | NOAA SWPC Scales | 5 min | Client |
| 🔥 FireSense | Open-Meteo GEM + Van Wagner FWI | On demand | 4 hrs |
🔥 FireSense — Wildfire Startup Risk Methodology
FireSense is Hazardscape's custom wildfire ignition risk overlay. It computes wildfire startup potential across ~85 sample points spanning Canada's fire-prone boreal belt, interior BC, prairies fringe, and northern regions. Each point is evaluated using the full Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System (Van Wagner & Pickett, 1985), the same framework used by Canada's official CWFIS.
Data Sources
Weather data comes from Open-Meteo using Environment Canada's GEM (Global Environmental Multiscale) model. For each grid point we fetch: daily max temperature (°C), min relative humidity (%), max wind speed (km/h), and 24-hour precipitation sum (mm). We request 14 days of historical data for FWI warmup plus 3 days of forecast, giving the moisture codes time to accumulate properly.
FWI System Components (Van Wagner 1985)
The FWI System has six components calculated daily in sequence:
FFMC (Fine Fuel Moisture Code) — moisture content of litter and fine fuels. Indicates ease of ignition.
Driven by temperature, humidity, wind, and rain. Start-up value: 85.
DMC (Duff Moisture Code) — moisture in loosely compacted organic layers of moderate depth.
Indicates fuel consumption potential. Includes a day-length adjustment factor by month. Start-up value: 6.
DC (Drought Code) — moisture in deep, compact organic layers. Tracks long-term seasonal drought.
Slow-responding; takes weeks to build. Start-up value: 15.
ISI (Initial Spread Index) — expected rate of fire spread. Derived from FFMC and wind speed.
BUI (Buildup Index) — total fuel available for combustion. Combines DMC and DC.
FWI (Fire Weather Index) — overall fire intensity rating. Combines ISI and BUI.
This is the primary danger rating used across Canada.
DSR (Daily Severity Rating) — difficulty of fire control. Power function of FWI.
FireSense Composite Score (0–100)
The final FireSense score blends four factors:
70% — Normalized FWI (FWI/30 × 100, capped at 100).
Up to +15 pts — Drought bonus when DC exceeds 200.
Up to +10 pts — Duff dryness bonus when DMC exceeds 40.
Up to +10 pts — Trend bonus when the 7-day FWI slope is positive (rising risk). Computed via linear regression over the last 7 days of FWI values; slope × 2, capped at 10. A rising trend toward drier, hotter conditions signals increasing ignition risk even before FWI peaks.
Grid points where the last 3 days of temperature are all below 0°C are automatically scored 0 (frozen/snow-covered).
Trend Analysis & Prediction
A 7-day linear regression on FWI values determines trend direction (rising/falling/stable) and slope. The slope is extrapolated to produce 12-hour and 24-hour FWI predictions. Click any FireSense region on the map to see 17-day, 7-day, and weather charts with trend visualizations in the detail panel.
Visualization
Grid points are rendered as Voronoi polygons — each polygon represents the area closest to that sample point, creating a seamless regional heatmap. Colours range from green (very low risk) through yellow, orange, red, to purple (extreme risk). Click any region for the full FWI breakdown.
FWI Start-up Procedure
Following Turner & Lawson (1978), we initialize with spring start-up defaults for areas with significant winter snow cover: FFMC=85, DMC=6, DC=15. The 14-day historical warmup allows the moisture codes to reach realistic values before the forecast period. Days below -5°C are skipped as the FWI system is not meaningful when fuels are frozen.
References: Van Wagner, C.E.; Pickett, T.L. (1985). Equations and FORTRAN program for the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System. CFS Forestry Tech. Report 33. · Turner, J.A.; Lawson, B.D. (1978). Weather in the CFFDRS: A user guide. · Lawson, B.D.; Armitage, O.B. (2008). Weather Guide for the CFFDRS.
Abbreviations:
FWI — Fire Weather Index
FFMC — Fine Fuel Moisture Code
DMC — Duff Moisture Code
DC — Drought Code
ISI — Initial Spread Index
BUI — Buildup Index
DSR — Daily Severity Rating
RH — Relative Humidity
GEM — Global Environmental Multiscale
CFFDRS — Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System
CWFIS — Canadian Wildland Fire Information System
ECCC — Environment and Climate Change Canada
Note: FireSense is an independent calculation by Hazardscape, not an official CWFIS product. It uses the same published FWI equations but differs in grid resolution, weather data source, and composite scoring methodology. Always consult cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca for official Canadian fire danger ratings.
Disclaimer — Hazardscape is provided for informational and situational awareness purposes only. It is not a substitute for official emergency alerts, professional judgment, or authoritative sources. Do not rely on this platform for life-safety decisions, evacuation orders, or critical emergency response actions. Data is aggregated from third-party sources and may be delayed, incomplete, or inaccurate. Hazardscape and its creators accept no liability for any loss, damage, or harm arising from the use of this website. Always follow the direction of local authorities and official emergency services. Use at your own risk.
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Hazardscape is a free, community-driven situational awareness tool for Canadian public safety and emergency management. If you find it useful, you can buy me a coffee to help keep it running.
Get in touch: colin@imperium.ca
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Current version: v0.11.3
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