The Developer
Prefire was built by Jack Lesemann — a software engineer based in Denver.
Why I Built This
This started as a random side project as a way for me to learn more about geospatial data and mapping libraries. I enjoy coding and use to work as a sawyer on wildfire mitigation projects so this was a way to combine those interests. As I built it, I realized that there was a real opportunity to make something useful that didn't exist yet. I hope Prefire can help people take proactive steps to protect their homes and families from the increasing threat of wildfires.
What's Next
The immediate priority is improving the scoring methodology — incorporating better satellite-derived vegetation data and improving accuracy across all 50 states. Longer term, I want to deepen coverage in my home state of Colorado. My main blockers right now are data availability and funding. Private imagery is expensive and the NAIP data is usually old and low resolution. If any of that sounds interesting to you, get in touch.