AI Is Helping California In Detecting Wildfires. Here’s How

California firefighters are utilising AI to assist in the detection of wildfires by putting together videos from more than 1,000 cameras.

These cameras, strategically placed across the state, feed videos into a system that informs first responders when to mobilise.

This programme, which is called ALERTCalifornia AI, spotted a fire that broke out at 3 a.m. local time in the remote, scrubby Cleveland National Forest about 80 km east of San Diego.

The programme was created by engineers at the University of California, San Diego using AI from DigitalPath, a company based in Chico, California.

It depends on 1,038 cameras installed by different public agencies and power utilities across the state, each of which can be rotated 360 degrees at the command of remote operators.

The platform is also capable of gathering data in addition to the camera network, such as an airborne survey for gauging the plants that could ignite future fires and map the Earth's surface below the canopy.