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ALEX BURK, HOST: Cal Fire is getting into the artificial intelligence game. KVPR’s Cresencio Rodriguez Delgado tells us about a new tool the fire agency will deploy – including in the Madera, Mariposa and Merced Unit.
CRESENCIO RODRIGUEZ-DELGADO: Under a partnership with the ALERT California program out of UC San Diego, Cal Fire will have access to over one thousand cameras as part of a new fire surveillance network. The cameras are equipped with near-infrared night vision to monitor active wildfires. They can perform a 360 view of an area every two minutes – but the artificial intelligence component here is a “anomaly detection” technique that notifies emergency command centers of any changes to camera feeds. That will help differentiate between smoke and other particles in the air. Cal Fire says this will revolutionize firefighting strategies and provide insights to firefighters on the ground. Investments in the technology will likely reach just over $23 million by the next few years.
For KVPR News, I'm Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado
