LAFD Freeway Addressing

[johnathanmartin]

When LAFD dispatches an incident, they typically radio it in something such as 1519 EB 10 FWY. I'm struggling to understand the number before the directional. Doesn't seem to be coinciding with a mile marker, and no relation to coordinates either.

 

[mmckenna]

Public safety dispatching, especially 911 ALI data, is based off MSAG based addresses. MSAG is Master Street Address Guide. MSAG is where all the street names, street addresses, etc. are recorded. MSAG is usually maintained by the County Assessor. MSAG gives first responders a "dispatchable address". In other words, a street address they can drive to and generally be at the location where the 911 call came from.

While I'm not in LA county, MSAG is standardized across the nation. I suspect what you are seeing is an assigned MSAG address for a point on the freeway. While there is not a house at that point, it doesn't mean that the county assessor has not assigned a street addresses to specific points along the highway.

I may be 100% wrong, and would love to know for sure what LA County does. But I do work with 911 systems and MSAG quite a bit.

 

[echo174330]

When LAFD dispatches an incident, they typically radio it in something such as 1519 EB 10 FWY. I'm struggling to understand the number before the directional. Doesn't seem to be coinciding with a mile marker, and no relation to coordinates either.

The number is the run or dispatch number then the rest of the info and mapping is being displayed on their m.d.t. unit saves radio traffic for more important things

 

[es93546]

The number is the run or dispatch number then the rest of the info and mapping is being displayed on their m.d.t. unit saves radio traffic for more important things

Is that the incident number for the day? I haven't been to L.A. in over 10 years now, but I remember for years they gave out incident numbers that were reset to zero at midnight.

 

[Markb]

The number is the run or dispatch number then the rest of the info and mapping is being displayed on their m.d.t. unit saves radio traffic for more important things

Seems like to incident number is one of the least important tidbits to put out over the radio.

 

[kylem1229]

Its not the incident number (Its in their MDT, but its not the part you are seeing on their address field.) The debunk for that is because some of the calls such as automatic alarms, structure fires, gas leaks, etc the number is the actual house number. Now for the freeway "Address" numbers, I think it has to be something to do with their CAD system. Because intersections are the same way, they use an "address" number unlike LACoFD and other pulsepoint agencies that have a "&" for an intersection, or for freeways I'll use an earlier call they had today as "SB 110 AT 223rd St" for LACoFD.

The Fire Dept I dispatch for has a CAD system that allows intersections that translate to "&" in pulsepoint. Based on my 4+ years listening to LAFD and using pulsepoint, it seems to me that bottom line it draws down to their CAD system, and translating intersections into address points.

 

[CityGuy]

Same question, but I believe kylem1229 may be correct. The CAD mapping is based on the design of the original late 1960s/ early 1970s design of the system, which broke the City of Los Angeles into some 7000 dispatch points—point of reference units known as “Z Points.” Using these points, the CAD knows how far away every fire unit in the City is from every dispatch point. This may be what the freeway incidents are referencing. And no, the LAFD CAD is not from the 1960s, it’s been substantially upgraded since and they are moving to GIS based mapping, but it is a “home built” system.

 

[Mikerh91]

When LAFD dispatches an incident, they typically radio it in something such as 1519 EB 10 FWY. I'm struggling to understand the number before the directional. Doesn't seem to be coinciding with a mile marker, and no relation to coordinates either.

The LAFD does not verbalize freeway locations with numbers such as 1519..... it would be verbalized some like E15 respond to the EB 10 freeway at Western AV