High-Def Cameras Watch For Wildfires
High-Def Cameras Watch For Wildfires
12 March 2010
published by www.kcra.com
USA — Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service are testing a program to help spot fires with high-definition cameras mounted on communication towers.
Using three cameras, they can cross-triangulate the exact location of a fire and get the right resources there faster than ever before. The cameras aren’t to replace people in lookout towers: What they do is give the dispatchers on the ground the ability to see what the lookouts are seeing.
As a dispatcher, weve always relied on the caller to tell us what the fire is doing. Now we can see — live — what the fire is doing, said Scott Wylie, with the U.S. Forest Service.
The camera program could save the state thousands of dollars that would otherwise have gone toward wasted resources. It could also increase response time and save lives, according to Cal Fire.
This is a good technology that allows us to gather additional information, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Justin Sanders said.
There already are three cameras in place in El Dorado County; the agencies hope to have a fourth online soon. And eventually, the system could be installed across the state.
