New satellites to use AI for wildfire detection, starting in California

SAN DIEGO (KGTV)— The rise in extreme wildfires in California now has tech giant Google concerned.

Recently, the company made a big investment in the future of fire detection in the Golden State.

According to firefighters, battling fires in California seems to be a constant task.

“We've been seeing an uptick in fires, and the total acreage is burned by fires,” said Marcus Hernandez, Deputy Chief for the Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development.

So if there is any help firefighters can get, they’ll take it.

“It caught hundreds of fires before a 911 call came in,” said Hernandez.

He’s talking about artificial intelligence, the latest tool in the toolbox for fire stations all over the state and soon the country.

After a $13 million investment from Google -- AI fire detection will be coming from space as the project Fire Sat gets ready to launch.

“We know we're going to collect way more data that's ever been done before,” said Brian Collins, Executive Director of Earth Fire Alliance.

Using AI to detect wildfires isn't exactly new. It's something that UC San Diego implemented last year in their Alert California program.

It's in stations across the Golden State, and fire officials say it's used 24/7.

“Firefighters are all still coming together with the communities we serve to mitigate those emergencies, but fires definitely don't seem like they're going away in the near future. And we're always looking for ways to add inefficiencies and improve our capabilities,” said Hernandez.

That detection is now going from cameras to satellites.

The AI detection from space will start in California, giving firefighters a bird's eye view.

“So if [the] fire is a classroom size or smaller, we're gonna pick it up, and we're gonna report it to the public, to fire agencies, and to fire managers and scientists across the planet every single day, every day, all the time,” said Collins.

The Fire Sat satellites are expected to be launched beginning in March of 2025.