Cartographic Survey of Golder Ranch Fire District

Abstract

The goal of this project was to complete a series of layouts for Golder Ranch Fire District (GRFD) to be incorporated into a report, Golder Ranch Fire District: Community Risk Assessment – Standards of Cover, created by the district as part of an ongoing accreditation process. Granted by the Center for Public Safety Excellence, the accreditation is centered around a thorough self-assessment that identifies strengths and weaknesses so that the fire district can better use its resources to serve the community. To this end, this capstone project provided a cartographic survey of GRFD, with maps and analysis displayed in layouts that featured a variety of assets and hazards. This was a collaborative project in which drafts were shared and revised until reaching satisfactory results. Ultimately, over thirty layouts were completed, covering everything from fire hydrant locations and water providers to wildfire risk and travel time analysis. As it would have been impractical for this paper to analyze all of the layouts as well as the methods involved in their creation, two layouts were selected for review: Senior Population and NWFD and TFD Stations That Can Reach GRFD within Eight Minutes. Looking at these layouts provided a window into the project’s methods and the cartographic techniques employed in a real-world application of the skills acquired as a result of completing the MS-GIST coursework.