This dataset contains 2005 Fire Station and EMS Information for the State of Florida. It is a combination of fire station addresses from (1) the National Fire Department Census (source - US Fire Administration), (2) the Yellow and Super Pages online, and the department of health. This dataset contains fields denoting the physical address, and contact information for fire stations and EMS facilities located in Florida.
The data was created to serve as base information for use in GIS systems for a variety of planning and analytical purposes.
POINT
publication date
THE DATA INCLUDED IN FGDL ARE 'AS IS' AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS LEGALLY BINDING. THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA GEOPLAN CENTER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES SUFFERED AS A RESULT OF USING, MODIFYING, CONTRIBUTING OR DISTRIBUTING THE MATERIALS A note about data scale: Scale is an important factor in data usage. Certain scale datasets are not suitable for some project, analysis, or modeling purposes. Please be sure you are using the best available data. 1:24000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the county level. 1:24000 data should NOT be used for high accuracy base mapping such as property parcel boundaries. 1:100000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the multi-county or regional level. 1:125000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the regional or state level or larger. Vector datasets with no defined scale or accuracy should be considered suspect. Make sure you are familiar with your data before using it for projects or analysis. Every effort has been made to supply the user with data documentation. For additional information, see the References section and the Data Source Contact section of this documentation. For more information regarding scale and accuracy, see our web page at: http://geoplan.ufl.edu/education.html
431 Architecture PO Box 115706
GeoPlan relied on the integrity of the attribute information within the original data.
This dataset is a combination of fire station and EMS facility addresses from (1) the National Fire Department Census (source - US Fire Administration), (2) The Department of Health, (3) the Yellow Pages online, (4) and Super Pages online. Since only censused fire stations are included in the National Fire Census database, addresses were also obtained from the Yellow and Super Pages to insure a complete spatial representation of fire station locations.
About the National Fire Department Census:
(from USFA website: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/applications/fdonline/about.cfm)
USFA has completed the first phase of the National Fire Department Census. During October 2001 through the spring of 2002 over 36,000 census forms were mailed to fire departments across the United States. Approximately 16,000 fire departments initially registered with the census which is about half of the fire departments estimated to be in the United States.
The online census database provides a current directory of the fire departments registered with the census as well as some basic information about each one. The USFA is working to encourage more fire departments to participate in the census. In September 2002, additional census forms were mailed to fire departments that have not already responded to the census.
The purpose of the census is to create a national database for use by USFA, our colleagues in the fire protection and prevention communities, allied professions and the general public. USFA will use the database to conduct special studies to guide program decision-making and to improve direct communication with individual fire departments.
In addition to collecting the names and addresses of fire departments across the country, the survey queried fire departments about their capabilities, population and area protected, number of personnel, and specialized services. In the future, the USFA plans to release summaries of this information but in order to increase the validity of the consolidated data more fire department participation is needed.
What is Geocoding? Geocoding is term used to describe the act of address matching. Geocoding is the process of finding a geographic location (x, y point) for an address (such as street number and name, city, state, and ZIP Code) on a map. Geocoding is based off the typical address scheme for the US, in which one side of the street contains even house numbers while the other side of the street contains odd house numbers.
The geocoding process uses an algorithm to find the geographic location of addresses. First, a street segment is identified using the zip code and street name. Next, the geographic location of the address is matched using the building number to determine how far down the street and on which side of the street the building is located.
Geocoding Accuracy The locational accuracy of geocoded addresses may vary from urban to rural areas due to the algorithm used to generate the geographic locations of addresses. The algorithm assumes that the size of parcels are equivalent along a road route. This assumption tends to be more consistent in urban areas, where the size of parcels vary less than in rural areas. Consequently, the results of geocoded addresses in urban areas are usually more reliable than those in rural areas.
For example, the locational accuracy of rural addresses can be slightly off because some parcels along a rural route may be 15 acres while others may be 2.5 acres, but the geocoding algorithm assumes that the addresses are distributed evenly along the route.
This data is provided 'as is'. GeoPlan relied on the integrity of the original data layer's topology
This data is provided 'as is' by GeoPlan and is complete to our knowledge.
This data is provided 'as is' and its horizontal positional accuracy has not been verified by GeoPlan
This data is provided 'as is' and its vertical positional accuracy has not been verified by GeoPlan
Spatial and Attribute Information
The National Fire Department Census data was originally released by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) in 2005. GeoPlan downloaded this data in text file format and converted it to a dbf. Additional fire station locations were obtained from the online Yellow Pages in 2005. Addresses were manually selected and entered into a dbf. Both dbf's were checked for duplicate addresses and then combined into one dbf. The combined dbf was then geocoded against ARC Logistics Route GDT Roads and converted into a shapefile with the FGDL Albers HPGN map projection. Process Steps for US Fire Administration Data: -Downloaded National Fire Department Census data (registered fire station locations) in text file format from the US Fire Administration website: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/applications/fdonline/states.cfm -Converted the station locations text file to database file format Process Steps for Super Pages FL Cemetery Locations: -Searched for fire station addresses at http://www.superpages.com Selected fires station addresses under following categories: Health & Medicine * Public Health & Safety o Emergency Services + Fire Departments (1420) -Downloaded fire station information Process Steps for Yellow Pages Fire Station Locations: -Searched for fire station addresses in www.yellowpages.com -Selected fire station addresses under following categories: Justice, Public Order & Safety Fire Protection - Fire Department (1338) - Fire Department Volunteer (33) - Fire Protection County Government (250) - Fire Protection Local Government (310) - Fire Protection, State Government (41) -All addresses from sections above were copied and pasted into a text file, which was then formatted so that it could be imported into Excel and converted to a database file format. Process Steps for Both USFA and Yellow Pages data: -Both database files of station locations were weeded to remove duplicate addresses. -Both database files were combined -The addresses were geocoded against ARC Logistics Route GDT Roads -Shapefile created using FGDL Albers HPGN map projection Process Steps for Department of Health (DOH) EMS Facility Locations: Inserted Hardcopy data received from DOH into .DBF Process Steps for USFA, DOH, and Yellow Pages data: -All three database files of fire stations and EMS Facility locations were weeded to remove duplicate addresses. -All three database files were combined -The addresses were geocoded against ARC Logistics Route GDT Roads -Shapefile created using FGDL Albers HPGN map projection -This update consists of changes made to Volusia County, Florida in 2005. The old geocoded data was removed from the statewide layer and the newly acquired data was appended. The AUTOID was calculated for records containing no old AUTOID number. (A2) For Volusia County, FL the 2005 GC_FIRESTAT statewide geocoded point data was removed. This data was replaced with more accurate point data received directly from Volusia County and/or a company working with Volusia County in May of 2005. (A5) Some Information from the 2004 geocoded data set was retained; this data was retained for three reasons: 1. The Yellow Pages and Super Pages Online are paid advertising sites, some facilities may wish to discontinue their advertising with those companies but they may still exist at that address/location (i.e. Churches etc). 2. The address might have changed slightly (i.e. suite number, building number, or zip code) which may have affected the addresses ability to be geocoded with the 2005 GDT roads dataset. 3. The facility no longer exists. Because facilities in reasons one and two may still exist in the real world all the 2004 geocoded features that were not reproduced in the 2005 geocode update were re-geocoded against the 2005 GDT roads dataset. These facilities were then added to the 2005 geocoded dataset. Facilities that are part of this scenario are represented with a value of 'NIN' (Not In New) in the field called FLAG. -Added DESCRIPT field based on NAME -Socio-Cultural Effect data fields and definitions were added. FLAG, UPDATE_DAY, AUTOID, NAME, ADDRESS, CITY, ZIPCODE, OPERATING, OP_CLASS, SERVICES, COMMON_USE USE, YR_BUILT, FGDLAQDATE. -For facilities that previously existed the permanent auto identification number [auto id] was carried over from the 2004 SCE base data to the 2005 SCE updates. For new facilities autoids were created. -Total records = 1009
Internal feature number.
ESRI
Feature geometry.
ESRI
ESRI item which denotes the status of the geocoded address whether it was matched or not).
ESRI item which denotes the score with which the address was matched to a feature in the reference data.
ESRI item which denotes the side of the street to which the address was matched (for geocoding service styles that can match an address to a particular side of a street).
Designation of fire department
A description of a facility's physical location providing direction for delivery and provision of emergency services
City of facility's physical location
US postal delivery designation of facility's physical location
The phone number of the fire station
The responsible organization for management and operation of a facility (e.g., public, private, quasi-public)
Classification of the operating entity
Services rendered not typical to the entity
Location of two or more uses in one facility or on common grounds so as to share common facilities
Description of co-located use, if applicable
The year a structure was built for determining possible historical significance
FGDL added item based on Name
Type of update that occurred
Attribute edit
Spatial edit
Both attribute and spatial edit
New
Delete
Not in new (See data lineage for more details - A5)
The last day the file was updated
Internal ID #
The date FGDL aquired the data from the source.
431 Architecture PO Box 115706
THE FGDL DATA AS PROVIDED BY CONTRIBUTING ORGANIZATIONS AND ANY PROGRAMMING SOFTWARE CREATED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA GEOPLAN CENTER (COLLECTIVELY THE 'MATERIALS') ARE COPYRIGHTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA GEOPLAN CENTER FOR THE FGDL CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS (THE 'DATA PROVIDERS'). DO NOT REPRODUCE, REDISTRIBUTE OR RESELL THE MATERIALS, OR PROVIDE THE MATERIALS FOR FREE TO CUSTOMERS OR CLIENTS, OR PLACE THE MATERIALS FOR DOWNLOAD ON A WEBSITE. ADDITIONALLY, WHEN USING FGDL DATA OR SOFTWARE IN PROJECTS, MAPS, ETC.; YOU AGREE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FGDL AS A DATA SOURCE. THE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED 'AS IS'. THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA GEOPLAN CENTER MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE QUALITY OR SUITABILITY OF THE MATERIALS, EITHER EXPRESSLY OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA GEOPLAN CENTER MAKES NO WARRANTIES, GUARANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS AS TO THE TRUTH, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE DATA PROVIDED BY THE FGDL CONTRIBUTING ORGANIZATIONS. THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA GEOPLAN CENTER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES SUFFERED AS A RESULT OF USING, MODIFYING, CONTRIBUTING OR DISTRIBUTING THE MATERIALS.
431 Architecture, PO Box 11570