Frequently Asked Questions

There is no difference between a Mapbook and Guidebook, other than the name. Our team has used the term Guidebook since day 1, reflecting our improved format and design showing more than your average fire service Mapbook.

12 Guidebooks and 186 square miles.

Each individual department and jurisdiction is unique, so our project proposal process sources funding from operating budgets, relief associations, grants, or municipal budgets.

Guidebooks are developed by our 4-firefighter team with over 30 years of combined experience, designed with your members and officers in mind. Intuitive water supply solutions and firefighter training provide your members with a down-to-earth and function resource for responses and district learning.

Each individual department and jurisdiction is unique, so our project proposal process sources funding from operating budgets, relief associations, private companies/organizations, grants, or municipal budgets.

Our team works with 30 fire departments and their mutual aid organization. All and all, we have published projects for 45 fire departments.

As of 2025, we have established a reliable update program, providing our team with the ability to automatically update mapping and pre-incident plans. As an example, medical facilities and nursing homes are updated every year, while apartment buildings are updated every 3 years. Utilizing past data on changes in occupancies, we have been able to solidify an update chart using criteria.

No, but we provide resources for upload into your apps such as Chief360, FirstDue, IAmResponding, Active911, and any other app that supports PDF files.

Our pre-incident planning process, while streamlined, is a very manual process. Our team compiles, organizes, formats, and publishes pre-incident plans by hand, and no part of our process is automated.

Since 2020, we have published over 55 million square feet of multi-residential, commercial, industrial pre-incident plans through an extensive catalog of almost 450 properties. About a 25% of those properties have two or more buildings, including several hospials, universities, and apartment complexes.

A pre-plan is a document that contains an organized collection of vital information, graphics, diagrams, and imagery to assist in the training and emergency responses. Pre-planning is required by some organizations and districts, but where it is not required it is a voluntary initiative to protect the lives of responders and civilians.

For more information, visit: https://www.firehouse.com/safety-health/article/10471881/fire-prevention-and-the-link-to-preincident-planning

The fire department that protects your property has decided your property meets specific criteria, including but not limited to the criteria below.

Pre-plans are commonly developed for a structure that:

- is 4 or more floors.

- may be occupied by vulnerable/disabled occupants or a large number of occupants.

- has limited fire protection systems such as fire sprinklers or standpipes.

- has a complex layout that could disorient firefighters.

- is constructed by lightweight or balloon frame construction.

Not at all. The pre-plan for your property was funded and sponsored by the fire department.

Our catalog of pre-plans spans millions of square feet of multi-residential, commercial, and industrial properties. The example below is of two large wood-frame apartment buildings.

Our process is broken down into two steps to ensure organization and an easy understanding of what is required to develop a pre-plan.

1. Building and Site Plans: Our team will format the life safety, architectural, or floor plans of your buildings(s). This allows us to develop diagrams for the fire department to use in locating rooms, shut-offs, connections, etc.

2. Walk-through: After formatting plans, our team will complete a walk-through with you or another property representative such as maintenance. This allows us to fill in the blanks that floor plans may not display, as well as include imagery with the pre-plan.

This is a question asked by a lot of the properties we contact. Our primary goal is to provide emergency responders with vital information and diagrams, while we maintain the privacy of sensitive information such as door codes, occupant locations, etc. That being said, the completed pre-plans are uploaded to county 911 systems and kept in a secure section of our website, only accessible to emergency responders using a log-in code. Our pre-plans are not available to the public by any means.