How a Major Wildfire Is Fought: Strategy, Data and Decisions Under Pressure
Context
A reconstruction of how large wildfire response is organized once an event enters the containment phase, based on operational strategy and post-fire analysis. The project combines decision timelines, spatial constraints, and tactical mapping to explain how field teams prioritize actions under pressure.
My role
- Data analysis
- Cartography
- Frontend development
I co-designed the narrative with Javier Galan and led the visual implementation, translating operational wildfire phases into a step-by-step map sequence for non-specialist readers.
Data and methodology
Reporting was built from on-site interviews with firefighters and residents, then structured as an explanatory chronology of tactical decisions during the containment phase.
The visual pipeline combined QGIS base data, Blender-derived rendering inputs, and Illustrator composition to produce a coherent sequence of mapped fire states.
Key decisions
- We chose a Svelte scrollytelling format to guide readers through 16 mapped fire moments documented by emergency teams during the event.
- To speed up repetitive rendering tasks, I automated Blender from the command line with Bash and Python scripts, swapping plane textures and exporting batches without opening the interface each time.
- The narrative prioritized operational clarity over visual ornament, focusing on why response timing and data-driven decisions changed the outcome.
Result
The final piece reconstructed the logic of containment in a way that made command decisions, territorial risk, and response effectiveness understandable in one continuous reading flow.
Impact and learnings
- The project highlighted the decisive role of Catalonia's fire services and their real-time use of data in preventing a much larger disaster.
- It was a technically demanding production that expanded my automation workflow for cartographic rendering and proved valuable for future high-tempo visual projects.