SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WKRN) -- The Spring Hill Fire Department became faster and more efficient overnight thanks to a new software program that every firefighter will have at their fingertips.

This visual pre-plan software known as FlowMSP allows first responders to know very specific information about a commercial structure before they even arrive at the scene of a fire.

According to Spring Hill Fire Chief Graig Temple, the app is currently available to every firefighter in every fire vehicle as they arrive at any fire call in the city.

The information they can see prior to arriving includes the location of the utilities; what hazardous materials may be stored on-site; and, based on square footage, how much water per minute is necessary to fight a fully involved fire and what hydrants will provide that amount of flow.

"It's going to immediately highlight the closest two hydrants for that building so we don't have to think about it. When they jump in the truck and the map pulls up, it'll show them, highlighted, which hydrants need to be hit," Temple described.

Temple said there are more than 3,000 commercial buildings in the city, each with its own utility hook-up locations, specific hazmat issues, and water flow specifications.

Over the next few months, the chief said crews will visit every one of those commercial structures and note specific information pertinent to each property. Those details can be uploaded immediately and available to every firefighter going forward.

"The staff will have this instantly, so by the time that the 911 call hits dispatch, when they climb in the apparatus, this will be on their screen in their NDT in their truck," Temple explained, adding that the software makes SHFD more efficient and provides more situational awareness.

"Does this save lives of firefighters and maybe even people that are burning in that place?" News 2's Andy Cordan asked.

"Absolutely," Temple replied. "When you show up at 3 o'clock in the morning, no one's there, it's dark, there's an active fire going on, having this at our fingertips gives us so much information on the way, on the response to the scene, when they show up, it's almost like we've been to that building before."

The program costs the SHFD approximately $4,000 a year. Once the information is uploaded, the chief said it can be made available to other local fire departments that have compatible software and might be in a mutual aid situation

In the past, firefighters going to a commercial structure fire would look up building specs in thick paper binders that were difficult to update, according to Temple.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/new-software-helps-increase-spring-hill-fire-departments-efficiency/