Community Partners

This project is a collaborative effort between

the Ontario County Emergency
Management Office, the Manchester Fire
Department, Cornell Cooperative Extension
4-H Program, and the 4-H GeoSeekers. 4-H
members participating in this effort can be
identified by their photo ID’s. For more
information, contact GeoSeekers Club
Leader, Jim Hooper at 585.394.3977 ext

an integral role in the system by

The 4-H GeoSeekers are playing
The Manchester Fire District

system, mains, and hydrants to

with the Town of Farmington.

developing maps of the water

Other neighboring Response

based on the MABAS system.

Village of Manchester, along

Units assist in emergencies

services the Town and the

aid Emergency Services in

quickly addressing a fire.
Manchester Project Overview What is a Global Positioning What is a Geographic
System (GPS)? Information System (GIS)?
The Ontario
County The Global Positioning System (GPS) is A geographic Information System is a
Emergency a satellite-based navigation system combination of elements designed to
Management made up of a network of 24 satellites store, retrieve, manipulate and display
Office has been placed into orbit by the U.S. geographic data—Information about
developing the Department of Defense. GPS was places. It is a package consisting of
Mutual Aid Box originally intended for military four basic parts: Robust hardware,
Alarm System applications, but in 2000, the powerful software, special data, and a
(MABAS) in government turned off the systems’ thinking explorer.
Ontario County. Selective Availability, and made the (Taken from GIS in K-12 Education; An ESRI White Paper.
March 1998, ESRI.)
This system is system available for civilian use. GPS
used by fire, works in any weather conditions,
rescue, and anywhere in the world, 24 hours a
medical service day. Topographic Base
response
personnel to (Taken from www.Garmin.com/aboutGPS/) Parcels

identify resources available to address any

particular emergency, depending on Zoning
geographic location and intensity of the
emergency. Floodplains

The Ontario County Emergency Management Wetlands

office has partnered with the GeoSeekers, an
Ontario County 4-H club focusing on Land Cover
Geospatial Science, to map the location of
every fire hydrant in the Manchester Fire Soils
District. In addition to these locations, they are
also mapping additional fire response Survey Control
infrastructure, including dry hydrants, water
Composite Overlay
main lines, disaster shelters, and specifically
known hazards. This data will be turned over
GIS maps are built in layers that can be shown or hidden.
to the Ontario County Planning office who will
generate the map books for the emergency
responders. This project will positively impact
24 satellites continuously orbit the earth to provide our
the Manchester community with more Global Positioning System.
effective response times in the event of an
emergency!