New cameras, AI, and technology are the future for fighting wildfires in Idaho

ALERTWest is a new company formed in 2023 to provided firefighters with an advantage to detect wildfires, provide real-time data to help them allocate the proper resources through the use of cameras.

It's a model based on a successful public-private partnership used in California. Scott Schifando of ALERTWest is helping pioneer this effort after having to endure the Campfire near Chino. His team has developed artificial intelligence to detect smoke.

"The camera spins 360 degrees about every two minutes on an AI model that we have created," said Schifando. "Anything the system thinks could potentially be fire, the system flags those images."

From there the images get sent to an operation center where humans confirm the smoke is a fire and from there they will send out an alert to fire managers using a robocall, text message or email so fire managers all have the same information at the same time.

"We are bringing all of these different groups together, we are also utilizing humans along with software and artificial intelligence," said Schifando. "We are combining that in a way that is helping to make an impact on these catastrophic wildfires."

This year the Idaho Department of Lands installed five cameras in the central part of the state that send off data to ALERTWest to provide situational awareness and a live feed that is easy to use online.

Scott Hayes of the Idaho Department of Lands provided an example from Wednesday morning when a camera near Elk River detected smoke. In this instance a logger called it in a few minutes prior, but it shows how this new technology when a fire sparks when nobody is around.

"If we wouldn’t have had that logger on scene that fire would have stayed on the landscape until the patrol plane went up at one o’clock," said Hayes. "It would have undoubtedly been bigger."

With resources spread thin across the state due to wildfires this new technology also provides fire managers with important real-time data helping them prepare the appropriate response.

"Without that information we sometimes over or under estimate those responses," said Hayes. "We can apply the right amount of force to the right spot."

ALERTWest also has partnerships with the Bureau of Land Management, Idaho Power and the Idaho Department of Transportation Department. It's a fairly new partnership, but this organization is trying to connect all the camera systems.

"We believe in not re-inventing the wheel," said Schifando. "If there are all these different camara networks out there we are looking to partner with them all to really increase that situation awareness."

The Idaho Department of Lands will install three new cameras this year and they hope to put in 15 more next year if they can get the funding.

"It’s been good, it has been fun to see a new technology that is so easy to show people," said Hayes. "When you can actually say here is the website and let's get you signed up for alerts people get excited."