Nineteen AI-powered cameras to watch for wildfire in remote Utah areas

SALT LAKE CITY — A $1 million grant will pave the way for 19 cameras to use AI technology to watch for potential wildfire starts. The technology is supplied through Alert West, a California-based company that already partners with agencies in fourteen 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.

"It could be hours where the fire could grow to tens of thousands of acres before it is detected," Delaney explained. "With some of these cameras, they'll be able to get on the smoke and detect that within minutes of the fire starting."

The cameras are also paired with GPS systems that can help dispatchers and fire managers easily figure out where exactly to respond. The Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UEN) will buy and place the cameras, using their existing network to help connect the cameras to a central dashboard. There is already one camera set up in Beaver County, with installation on the rest to start next month.

Jeff Egly, director of research and initiatives at UEN said a team of researchers from the University of Utah’s Center for High Performance Computing, will look at ways to leverage data gathered by the cameras to better manage and prevent wildfires.

"I'm excited about this. I see the, the community benefit," Egly said. "The research side can hopefully take this kind of data and use it to understand the changing dynamics of wildfire, their intensity and, their management."

The United States Wildland Fire Service has already identified locations for 60 more cameras to be placed once additional funding becomes available.

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