OGDEN – Forest fires that break out into raging infernos, and Kevin Rose, Executive Director of Weber County 911, hopes that artificial intelligence at this earlier level could help firefighters in the region to catch more forest fires.
“The idea is that this gets us a head if we can quickly put resources on it and keep them before it becomes a big problem,” said Rose. “The problem we have had in the past are some of these fires that start in these remote areas. Nobody sees it for some time.”
The AI system is created by a company based in San Francisco called Pano.ai. The C0 spring player and managing director, Arvind Satyam, said his cameras and AI had already caught more than a hundred forest fires in the western USA in the early stages. The company is currently working with more than 500 agencies in 15 states.
“We found that they all start small when it comes to this mega fire,” said Satyam. “What we do is really to understand the nature of a fire, to triangulate the place of IT and to deliver powerful pictures and real time.”
In collaboration with Rocky Mountain Power, Pano.ai currently has five cameras all over Utah. Two of them help to monitor the Ogden Valley, to watch one on the Powder Mountain and one by Lewis Peak in the Summit County. Two other cameras are planned for Morgan County.
Rose said that the system notifies dispatcher by e -mail and text so that you can complete the location and determine which type of answer may be necessary. The human element helps to suspend controlled burns and other non-emergency sources.
While Weber County has only used his cameras since last October, Rose said that he could see the potential that they offer to prevent damage and loss of ownership.
“The faster we get a resource out there to switch off the fire before it spreads, we will save time, money (and) property,” he said.