RoGO Communications launches new DropBlock and Mobile App for GPS tracking of Wildland Firefighters

RoGO Communications, a company founded to develop lifesaving technology for firefighters and first responders, has launched DropBlock 2.0 with a new mobile phone app to track the location of firefighters and equipment in locations where cellular service is not available.  

RoGO Communications Chief Executive Officer Rod Goossen, along with his brother Derek who served on teams fighting more than 100 wildfires, founded the company to develop technology that will save lives of wildland firefighters following the tragic deaths of 19 firefighters in the 2013 Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona. The launch of DropBlock 2.0 is on the 13^th anniversary of the memorial to honor the fallen firefighters and their families.

Andrew Ashcraft was one of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots who tragically died in the Yarnell Hill wildfire. He was awarded “Rookie of the Year” honors in 2011, the year he joined the crew. His mother, Deborah Pfingston, said Andrew was proud to serve on the crew and loved being a wildland firefighter. “We have been excited since RoGO Communications began developing this type of technology. We know this kind of tool might have saved the lives of my son and his courageous crew members giving them vital information about the fire,” she said. “We know it can help save lives in the future." 

The satellite-enabled DropBlocks are now smaller in size and weight to be carried by wildland firefighters. The new RoGO mobile phone app enables point-to-point communications and displays the GPS location of firefighting assets along with fire weather data on mobile phones in austere, remote or cellular-denied areas when paired to a DropBlock.

The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management field tested DropBlocks with six wildland fire handcrews, suggesting the smaller size and adding point-to-point data communications to send messages to targeted teams.

Immediate tactical coordination and lifesaving situational awareness is enabled by tracking the location of crews, equipment and resources including bulldozers, water tenders, fire engines, high-value structures, medical evacuation rescue sites and makeshift water resources. DropBlocks also share hyper-local weather information and serve as portable weather stations, including wind speed, direction, temperature, humidity and other IoT sensor data.

Initially engineered to save lives of wildland firefighters to avoid being trapped by the spread of the fire, DropBlocks also support first responders in other all hazards emergencies including disaster responses for hurricanes, earthquakes and floods.

“Based on feedback from wildland firefighter field trials, the commercial launch of our new DropBlock and mobile phone app enables immediate deployment for everyone to have a common operational picture of resources and conditions to support the initial attack of a wildfire, the time of most dangerous risk to firefighters,” Goossen said.

RoGO Communications has been awarded a NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to coordinate aerial support for wildfire firefighting. The Phase II contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) extends collaboration on development of RoGO’s DropBlock 2.0. The Phase II contract supports enhanced data sharing and communication among firefighters on the ground and aerial firefighting resources.