Pickering Using World-Class Technology to Fight Fires

PICKERING, ON, Dec. 23, 2015 /CNW/ - City of Pickering Fire Services is utilizing FireSite, a technologically-advanced fire survey system that was designed in collaboration with Ferko Liblik Inc., a GTA-based high technology company with offices in Markham and Pickering Village.

FireSite features a digital and query-capable database of geographic features and potential hazards.  Its interactive 2D and 3D surveys are geo-indexed and integrated with the latest mapping technologies - providing firefighters with critical call-related information such as oriented and annotated commercial building site maps with high-contrast display layouts of hazards and key facts right on a mobile tablet. The robust, data-rich, and easy-to-understand information helps firefighters make quick and effective decisions while reducing personal risk.

Dathan Liblik is a Pickering native and a Managing Partner of Ferko Liblik Inc. (FLI).  FLI engaged Pickering Fire Services with an offer to design, build, and operate the FireSite system at no cost to the City. FLI has provided all hardware and communications at its own cost as a community benefit project for the City, while retaining all product ownership and intellectual property rights – a compelling win-win for both parties.  Bringing to bear its expertise in aerial drone surveys, GIS/GPS and mobile device technology, FLI created FireSite to automate the paper-based fire survey systems currently being used by the majority of municipal fire departments.

Pickering Fire Services met regularly with FLI in 2015 to establish requirements, review designs, and field-test the beta version of the system.  FLI team members, including a Centennial College co-op student, visited fire stations, and attended surveys alongside firefighters to observe, support, and analyze the survey procedures, all working together to identify enhancements to structure and form that would benefit the data collection process.  Since the full system launch in September, FireSite has already proven to be an indispensable tool, and is now equipped in all City of Pickering fire trucks, command vehicles, fire halls, and dispatch centres.

Back in 1986, Dathan Liblik's own childhood home in Pickering was gutted by a devastating electrical fire, which furnished further personal incentive to create the FireSite product. "I've seen first-hand the tremendous courage of our intrepid firefighters when entering a fire-consumed building 'blind' of information about the internal contents and layout. FireSite is for me as much a personal contribution as it is an economic one: I had always hoped to find a way to show my appreciation for these incredible men and women." For more information on FireSite, please visit www.fire-site.com. For Ferko Liblik, please visit www.ferkoliblik.com.

This extraordinary, co-operative endeavour is a shining example of how government, education, and private industry can all work together to create innovative and meaningful real-world solutions while driving local economic development.  The City of Pickering and Ferko Liblik are extremely proud to have worked together to help save lives, enhance the safety of first responders, support co-operative education, stimulate economic development, and strengthen Canada's Information and Communications Technology sector.

"I am extremely proud of this innovative and supportive partnership.  I commend proud Pickering resident, Dathan Liblik, for working with Pickering Fire Services to come up with this technologically advanced solution." said Mayor Dave Ryan.  "In addition, this project bolsters Pickering's burgeoning reputation as a business-friendly locale, and a hub for innovation and technology."

As the gateway to the east GTA, Pickering (population 94,000) is strategically located where Toronto, York and Durham Regions meet. An award-winning municipality, Pickering is slated for significant economic and residential growth; offering an unparalleled quality of life for those who live, work, and play here. Its dynamic City Centre has been designated by the Province of Ontario as both an Urban Growth Centre and Mobility Hub, and continues to evolve as a preferred destination for creative learning, memorable events, and unique experiences at the heart of a vibrant, connected, and engaged community.

Founded in Pickering and privately held, Ferko Liblik Inc. delivers innovative solutions in big data, business intelligence and predictive analytics to finance multi-nationals.  FLI also executes bespoke, highly advanced and occasionally disruptive developments in varied areas including UAV aerial 3D modeling (photogrammetry), GPS and logistics tracking, university residence optimization, and other domains where unique challenges arise, sometimes privately selling the intellectual property rights to other firms to market.

SOURCE City of Pickering

Mark Guinto, Coordinator, Public Affairs, Office of the Mayor, 905.420.4660 ext. 2013, 1.866.683.2760, TTY 905.420.1739, [email protected]; Dathan Liblik, Managing Partner, Ferko Liblik Inc., 905.686.9549, [email protected], www.fire-site.com