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Initial Publication Date: April 3, 2010

You might wonder . . . How many parcels were within one mile of the fire on Day 1? Day 2? Day 3? Day 4? Use spatial queries to find out.

  • The Shaded Relief and False Color Aerial images plus the Daily Fire Perimeter layer should still be on. In addition, turn on the Parcel Status layer and zoom to the extent of the layer.
  1. The Shaded Relief and False Color Aerial images plus the Daily Fire Perimeter layer should still be on.
    dily fire perimeter lines on
  2. Turn on the Parcel Status layer by clicking the box to the left of its name.
    [thumbnail XXXXX 550]
  3. Click the Zoom to Active Layer Zoom to Full Extent tool. Individual parcels are now visible on the map.
    [thumbnail XXXXX 550]


Select the area of the fire on Day 1

  1. Make the Daily Fire Perimeter layer active by click on its name in the Table of Contents. Click the Query Builder... Query builder button tool or select Tools > Query Builder.
    [thumbnail XXXXX 550]
  2. A new window opens. Move it to where you can see both the Query Builder and the map.
    [thumbnail XXXXX 550]
  3. In the Query Builder window select the field DATE by clicking once on it. Then click the "equals" sign. Last choose the Value 617 by clicking once on it. You can also type in this equation (DATE = 617) into the box in the middle of the window. Click Execute.
    [thumbnail XXXXX 550]
  • Close the Query Builder window. One record is selected on the map.
    [thumbnail XXXXX 550]

    • Buffer the area of the fire to find parcels that are within one mile of it on Day 1

    1. Click the Buffer button buffer tool icon to open the Buffer window. [thumbnail XXXXX 550]
    2. In the Buffer window, set the Buffer Distance to 1 and the Buffer Units to Miles. Turn on the Use buffer to select features from this layer option, using the Parcel Status layer.
      [thumbnail XXXXX 550]

  • Click OK. The map shows a one mile buffer around the area of the fire on the first day, with parcels that are within the buffer showing as highlighted in yellow.
    [thumbnail XXXXX 550]

    • Show the results of the spatial query

    1. Right-click on the PC or control-click on the Mac the Parcel Status label in the Table of Contents and select Attribute Table.
      [thumbnail XXXXX 550]
    2. In the Attributes of Parcel Status table that opens, you can view the individual records for the layer. Scroll down the Attribute Table. The selected records are highlighted in blue.
      [thumbnail XXXXX 550]
  • The number of parcels selected is shown at the bottom of the Attribute Table.
    [thumbnail XXXXX 400] Betsy, let's just show the table with the selected records circled at the bottom
  • How many parcels were selected?
  • Close the Attributes of Parcel Status and click the Clear All Selection Clear Selections button.

    Repeat the steps above to find the parcels that were within one mile of the fire on days two, three, and four




    Zoom in zoom in
    Zoom Out zoom out
    Zoom to Full Extent zoom to active
    pan tool Pan
    Zoom to full extent all layers zoom full extent
    Clear Selections Clear all
    map tips button Map tips
    find button find
    add layer button add data
    Zoom to Previous zoom to previous
    identify button identify
    Tools Query Builder query
    buffer tool icon buffer
    Query builder button query builder
    remove layer button remove layer from map
    select features button select features button
    select feature close up SF drop down close up polygon
    rectangle polygon tool SF drop down close up polygon
    browse button button