A $1 million grant will pave the way for 19 cameras to use artificial intelligence technology to watch for potential wildfire starts. The technology is supplied through Alert West, a California-based company that already partners with agencies in 14 Western states.
“We all know that the minutes matter during that incipient phase of a fire during that early growth,” Scott Schifando, vice president of operations at Alert West, said. “Where these cameras really excel is in some of these more remote wilderness areas; maybe where there’s lightning strikes that the fire builds over days of time.”
That’s what the United States Wildland Fire Service is counting on. Geographic Fire Chief Chris Delaney said the cameras will be placed on towers on mountaintops, to watch over very remote and frequent-fire areas.