By Staff
Lisa Tindell
News Editor
Residents across Escambia County may see an unusual sight in their neighborhoods over the next couple of months. A silver car with an odd attachment on the back of the vehicle will be covering every inch of the county in a mapping effort of the E911 system.
Janie Hamric, director of the E911 system, said the mapping project is essential in maintaining up-to-date information to accommodate proper response to emergency situations.
Dan Disharoon, a mapper with Spatial Data Research, will be roaming through the county in an effort to pinpoint every structure and road for the E911 system’s use.
Disharoon will be driving a silver mid-size car with a global positioning device mounted on the trunk of the vehicle.
The information collected through this mapping project will be of great importance in the event of an emergency within the county, Hamric said.
Hamric said a previous centerline-mapping project has proven to be a valuable tool for the E911 system and the entire county.
Although the mapping is primarily used by E911 for planning and safety purposes, the information can be shared with other agencies. “The GIS layers can be used by schools for bus routing,” Hamric said. “It can also be used by utility providers in their efforts to restore power after an outage.”
Other projects can evolve once the mapping effort has been completed, Hamric said.
The $100,000 project will be conducted throughout the county by SDR and is expected to be completed over the next three months.
For more information, contact the E911 office at 867-0500.