Obsidian Solutions Group Highlights FIRE ADAPT Year 3 Progress in Advancing Wildfire Decision-Making

FREDERICKSBURG, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Obsidian Solutions Group today announced continued progress in Year 3 of the FIRE ADAPT project, an innovative collaboration to improve decision-making for the wildfire community.

Funded by a grant from NASA’s Earth Science Division, FIRE ADAPT (Firefighter Information Response Engine for Advanced Decision-making, Preparedness, and Training) is developed in partnership with the Western Fire Chiefs Association and Processus Group. The initiative creates a decision-centric framework that mirrors how wildland firefighters operate in today’s faster, more destructive, and complex environments.

Wildfires now demand rapid, high-stakes decisions amid incomplete information. FIRE ADAPT tackles this by building a digital twin of wildfire decision-making through a semantic knowledge graph. This maps key decisions, their timing, and the most critical supporting information. By organizing data around real decisions, it better aligns technology, data, and operations to support training, preparedness, and response.

“The challenge has never been a lack of data—it’s delivering the right information to the right decision-maker at the right moment,” said Matt Maher, CEO and Co-founder of Processus Group. “FIRE ADAPT captures firefighter knowledge in a decision-centric knowledge graph that reflects actual fireground processes. It turns fragmented data into a coherent operational picture, enabling faster, clearer decisions during initial attack while reinforcing experienced judgment.”

In Year 3, we expanded data collection and integration, incorporating weather, fuels, terrain, resource deployment, firefighter insights, and doctrinal reviews. These inputs are linked directly to decision points, turning information into actionable insights that boost situational awareness.

A core strength remains deep engagement with practitioners through workshops, interviews, and exercises. This ensures the framework stays grounded in real-world realities, constraints, and judgment—built for firefighters, by firefighters.

The work aligns with Obsidian’s expertise in operational analysis, complex problem-solving, systems integration, data analytics, modeling, simulation, and training. “As wildfires grow more complex, better decision support is urgent,” said Ken Kassner, retired Marine Corps Colonel and Principal Advisor at Obsidian. “FIRE ADAPT captures fireground decision-making and scales it across the enterprise. We’re excited to refine it with partners and the firefighting community.”

Moving forward, the team will enhance the knowledge graph, integrate emerging technologies and AI tools, and broaden community engagement. The goal is a shared, open framework that improves alignment, training, preparedness, and nationwide operational effectiveness.

FIRE ADAPT is developing the first comprehensive decision-centric model of wildfire operations, integrating data, technology, and practitioner expertise.