Hastily Formed Networks at the Waldo Canyon Fire

Hastily Formed Networks:
Tech Lessons from the Waldo Canyon Fire

Rakesh Bharania
Network Consulting Engineer
Cisco Tactical Operations
E-mail: rbharani@cisco.com
Twitter: densaer

http://www.cisco.com/go/tacops

Agenda – HFNs at the Waldo Canyon Fire

!  Introducing Cisco Tactical Operations
!  Understanding the Tech Challenge
!  Introducing Hastily Formed
Networks
!  Hastily Formed Networks at
Waldo Canyon Fire
!  The New Reality Going Forward

ICT Trends 2011 © 2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 2

Introducing Cisco Tactical
Operations


Cisco TacOps Provides Crisis Support

!  Cisco Tactical Operations (TacOps) is a dedicated crisis response
team that establishes emergency networks after a disaster.
!  TacOps personnel skills include technical, operational, first responder,
military and logistics
!  Promotes innovative technology solutions
for disaster response and other hardship
situations.
!  Emergency response funded
by Cisco Corporate Philanthropy.


Cisco Learned Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

!  Initially: TacOps supported “extreme risk” incidents
!  Expanded mission: To have a scalable, coordinated,
response to disasters (2005) … because:
!  Hurricane Katrina - what Cisco did:
Cisco sent hundreds of volunteers and tons
of equipment to Gulf region.
We were successful, but…

!  Hurricane Katrina - lessons learned:
There were many willing engineers but few
trained for the environment.
Less effective due to the Cisco-wide uncoordinated
response

!  No standardized Cisco mobile platform for disaster
response.

Today: All-hazards Response, Anywhere.

!  Waldo Canyon Fire, CO !  Pipeline Explosion, San Bruno CA
!  Famine, Horn of Africa !  Plane Crash, Palo Alto CA
!  Tornadoes, AL, NC, MO !  Earthquake, Port-Au-Prince Haiti
!  Earthquake/Tsunami, Japan !  Fiber-Optic Cut, SF Bay Area CA
!  Earthquakes, Christchurch NZ
!  Flooding, Cedar Rapids IA
!  Flooding, Brazil
!  Evans Road Fire, NC
!  Flooding, Queensland Australia
!  Harris Fire, San Diego CA
!  Fourmile Canyon Fire, Boulder CO
!  Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav, Ike


United States Relationships

Office of Emergency
Services


International Relationships


We Deploy: Vehicles, Kits, Equipment, Expertise

!  Network Emergency Response Vehicle (NERV)
NIMS Type II Mobile Communications Center.
Large scale network services core
“Respond locally, communicate globally”

!  Mobile Communicator Vehicle (MC2)
NIMS Type IV (with satellite, VoIP) MCC
Medium scale network services core

!  Emergency Communications Kit (ECK)
Rapidly deployable communications capability


We Have Trained Responders
!  Disaster Incident Response Team (DIRT) program:
USA, UK/Ireland, China, Brazil. ~200 engineers
!  Takes Cisco engineers, trains them for
disaster response.
!  NIMS certified, hands on, VOD training
!  DIRT members deploy with NERVs/ECKs


Giving Back As a Core Value
!  Corporate Social Responsibility
• Supporting the community creates goodwill.
• We don’t just give money, but go into the field with a
trained team to provide augmentation of resources
• Threefold approach: cash, product, people.
• Attract the best new employees: they care about
what their employer does, not just getting a paycheck

!  We are accountable: Cisco annual Corporate Social
Responsibility Reports http://csr.cisco.com

!  It’s not just good for the community – it’s good for Cisco


Understanding the Tech
Challenge


All Crisis Responders Share The Same Problem.
NGOs/VOADs/ Public Safety
International Orgs

In complex disasters with multiple National, State &
Transportation
response organizations … Local Government

How to deliver the right information
in the right format to the right person at
the right time?
Critical Infrastructure
Healthcare
Defense

13


The Need For Technology In Disaster Is Increasing
Evolution in People, Process and Technologies to support
Disaster and Humanitarian relief

!  Radio, phone Radio & integrated Data
!  Single device Any device (BYOD) Goal: Mission workflow
and productivity
!  Voice only Voice, Video, Data benefits that save lives
!  Closed teams Open collaboration and speed recovery.

!  Command Centric In the field, social media
!  Fixed Locations Deployable anywhere


The Whole Community: Nobody Does it Alone.

…We know that non-governmental organizations - like faith-based and non-profit
groups - and private sector entities possess knowledge, assets and services that
government simply cannot provide. An effective disaster response involves tapping
into all of these resources.

…Through engaging the "Whole Community," we maximize our limited funding and
leverage the capabilities of our partners, who play a critical role in the process.”

Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator
House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, 2012


Introducing Hastily Formed
Networks


Typical ICT Challenges in Disaster.
Information and Computing Technologies (ICT) are Needed but Overwhelmed

!  Lack of power
!  Degraded telephony infrastructure
!  Degraded Push-to-Talk Radio,
Lack of interoperability
!  Oversubscribed services
!  Limited Internet access
!  Few IT resources
!  Lack of trained staff


Solution: Hastily Formed Networks (HFNs)
Instant Emergency Networks

!  HFNs are portable, IP-based networks
that are deployed in emergencies
when normal communications
has been disabled or destroyed.

!  Enable on-scene and remote responders
to share situational awareness, coordinate
operations, establish command and control.

!  Communicate within the affected
area as well as to the outside world.

Naval Postgrad. School / Cisco HFN Model
HUMAN / COGNITIVE
Social/Cultural Organizational Political Economic

TEXT VOICE VIDEO/IMAGERY SPECIALIZED
- email - Push-to-talk - VTC - Collaboration
APPLICATION - chat - Cellular - GIS - Sit Awareness
- SMS - VoIP - Layered Maps - Cmd/Control
- Sat Phone/PSTN - Fusion
WIRED WIRELESS WIRELESS SAT
- DSL LOCAL LONG HAUL BROADBAND
NETWORK - Cable - WiFi - WiMAX - VSAT
- Other ISP WAN - PAN - Microwave - BGAN
- MAN - IP over HF
POWER HUMAN NEEDS PHYSICAL NET OP CENTER
- Fossil Fuel - Shelter SECURITY - Network Sec
PHYSICAL - Renewable - Water - Force Protection -Cmd/Control
- Fuel - Access - Leadership
- Food Authorization


HFNs: What They Are

!  Portable: mobile, rolling kit, easily moved
with few personnel

!  Rapidly deployable: pre-configured, set up
with minimal training

!  Interim: Once pre-event communications
is restored typically decommissioned.

!  Based on: WiFi/VSAT/WiMAX/etc.


HFNs: What They Are NOT
!  A replacement for pre-emergency infrastructure.

!  Designed for large numbers of users

!  High bandwidth (if on VSAT). High latency, etc. needs to be considered.


The First Deployed HFN: Hurricane Katrina


More Recently: 2010 Haiti Quake

Airport
USNS COMFORT

NPS HFN TEAM HAITI NETWORK
VSAT/BGAN Satellite
WiMAX Point-to-Point
WiFi Mesh
WiFi Access ICT Trends 2011
Point © 2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 24 2
4

The Waldo Canyon Fire


The Waldo Canyon Fire
!  June 23 – July 10 2012
!  2 Fatalities / 6 Injured
!  18,247 acres burned
!  32,000 evacuated
!  346 homes destroyed ($352 M damage)
!  The most destructive fire in Colorado history ($)


The Response
!  Type I IMT (Harvey’s GB IMT)
!  1,286 Personnel Assigned
!  76 Engine Companies
!  11 Dozers
!  8 Helicopters
!  4 MAFFS C-130 ANG Tankers
!  Firefighters came from 34 States


Cisco Technology Response
!  El Paso County, CO request for “advanced
communications support” from Cisco.

!  Cisco Tactical Operations response
based from San Jose, CA and Raleigh, NC

!  Communications requirements:
1.  Wireless networks for the Type I IMT
2.  IP Telephony support at ICP
3.  Support El Paso County Disaster Recovery Center IP Telephony


Wireless Network Deployment
!  Priority One: Support the IMT staff with
wireless access in an unreliable environment.

!  Cellphones were disabled in the area –
how to get data?

!  The answer was a “mesh” wireless network
that would support both mission-critical
and “courtesy” open Internet access.

!  Security policy applied on infrastructure to deconflict traffic. (BYOD)


Advanced Mesh Wireless Network
!  Secured Network: Supporting
~100 IMT/Unified command Staff

!  Unsecured (open) network:
Supporting ~500 firefighters
and support staff.


Mesh Wireless: Waldo Canyon Fire, 2012


Multipoint TelePresence: Waldo Canyon Fire, 2012


Cisco ECK For VoIP: Waldo Canyon Fire, 2012


So what? Why do we need data in an emergency?
!  Example: Social Media.
!  #waldocanyonfire – 100k messages between
June 25 and July 10.
!  25,000 unique users
!  What about email?
!  Or GIS?
!  WebEOC?

The Twitter Desk at the El Paso County EOC
!  Twitter: #smem – where the discussion is at.


Official Agencies on Twitter, Waldo Canyon Fire


But…

!  If you don’t have access to data communications in your emergency, you have access to
none of this content.


Challenges
!  Spectrum Management. There were at least 40 APs at that
facility, all conflicting for 14 802.11 2.4Ghz Channels!

!  Lack of awareness by on scene COML/COMT staff as to non-LMR spectrum
management challenges.

!  “The ICS-205 Problem”

!  Infrastructure security – aka what happens when
trucks drive over your fiber optic link?


The New Reality


The Future (As We Know It)
!  Networks just as critical as radio
!  Collaboration in communities of interest via multiple
modes:
Video, VoIP, IM, chat, incident mgmt apps, GIS

!  IP as “Interoperability Protocol” / all-hazards
!  Technology infrastructure for day-to-day ops, not just
“100-year flood”
!  Next-generation disaster-management apps
Community-based “fusion” applications for
crisis management & information dissemination
Everyone has a phone that can post to
Twitter, flickr, Facebook in seconds.

!  Technology is easy … politics is (still!) hard.

Now What? Your Next Move.

!  Response agencies should consider ICT as a
primary service in disaster as essential
as food, water, shelter and medical care
!  Agencies must plan for future investment
in ICT. Partner with your IT departments!
!  Governments, NGOs and other
humanitarian agencies should continue
work to establish working partnerships
with private sector resources
!  Agencies need to test and train with technology
regularly to ensure personnel are practiced and able
to use it effectively

Connect With Us: Web. Email. Social Media.

!  On Cisco.com: http://www.cisco.com/go/tacops/

!  Email: tacops-info@cisco.com

!  Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/cisco.tacops

!  Twitter:
@SJ_NERV
@RTP_NERV


Thank You!


Hastily Formed Networks at the Waldo Canyon Fire

Hastily Formed Networks at the Waldo Canyon Fire

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