Detecting Wildfires with Cameras

Power companies are looking at different solutions to reduce their wildfire vulnerabilities associate with being blamed for fire ignition. In Hawaii, there is this, Cameras With AI Shoot for Early Fire Detection in Hawaii.

The 2018 Camp Fire in California was the first major fire that exposed electrical utilities to being held accountable for the ignition of wildfires (that I can recall). One solution that has dominated up until now is turning off the power when high winds are expected. The link above provides another solution that can help with detection and then also the response.

I like the aspect of making the cameras available to the general public. Hawaii took it on the chin for not providing adequate warning to the general population. Warnings are still necessary, but this is a good example of providing some video of what is going on and where in the “milling process” of warnings, people have the ability to verify what they are being told.

The solution above might be possible for a small geographic state like Hawaii. It won’t be feasible for much larger geographic states.