(TNS) — Cal Fire extinguished a wildfire in rural San Luis Obispo County Tuesday afternoon, but there were no 911 calls.
Instead, AI cameras detected smoke and notified first responders in the early stages before the fire turned into an inferno.
“No one reported this,” Cal Fire spokesman Ryan Grieve told the Tribune. “Someone’s computer said, ‘There’s a fire.’ That’s very impressive to me and says a lot about where we’re going with technology.”
The fire broke out around noon Tuesday at La Panza Ranch, south of Highway 58 at the intersection of San Juan Creek Road and Hay Canyon Road, about 40 minutes from the nearest Cal Fire station. Grebe said the latest maps estimated the fire area at 16 acres.
The grebe said it had been hot throughout the day, and the fire could have caused serious damage had it been detected even late.
“If that fire had continued to burn for another 30 minutes to an hour without anyone seeing it, it absolutely could have grown to hundreds of acres,” Grebe said. “Buildings and other property in the area were destroyed and significant property damage may have occurred.”
Fortunately, it was detected by one of the more than 1,000 cameras installed on California’s hilltops and panoramic vantage points that provide 360-degree views of the Cal Fire Command Center. I did.
The ALERTCalfornia camera system, based at the University of California, San Diego, monitors wildfires and disasters across the state in real time.
Greve said AI technology was integrated into the system in September 2023, allowing cameras to detect smoke, dust and other debris and notify the Cal Fire Emergency Command Center. From there, trained officers will review the camera footage, determine if the alarm is actually a fire, and dispatch the necessary resources.
The system is already replacing older fire stations in the state, which previously required 24-hour human monitoring, but the AI-enabled wireless feed eliminates the need for humans to monitor the cameras. Grieve said fires can now be detected even at low temperatures. .
“I’m really looking forward to using this in a situation where there’s a fire going on at night and everyone’s sleeping. Or maybe it’s a little bit more remote in the countryside, but we’ve already demonstrated what it can do. said the Grebe.
Since the program’s inception, there have been several fires in SLO County that were detected by AI prior to a 911 call, Grieve said.
“Typically, we have someone who has a cell phone call us and tell us what’s going on via 911,” Grieve said. “We now have a completely different way of reporting fires, which does not involve the public at all.”
Grebe said this early detection will allow Cal Fire to detect fires earlier and dispatch responders more quickly, especially in rural areas where monitoring is poor.
“If there is a confirmed fire and we are monitoring the cameras and there is no one on scene yet, but they are on their way and this fire is spreading very quickly, we will You can see that from the camera and then you can ramp up your resources and add additional resources and aircraft on top of that fire,” Grieve said. “This gives us a huge advantage in being able to stay ahead of the curve and align our resources to those areas.”
The AI camera system was recognized by TIME magazine as one of the top innovations of 2023.
“I think it’s really exciting to see how this technology can help us in the future,” Grieve said.
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