Why AI-powered cameras are watching Australian forests
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson |
Australia’s latest firefighting recruit is available around the clock, can monitor millions of hectares at once and could alert crews to a blaze within minutes of its outbreak.
Fire-spotting artificial intelligence technology will be deployed in 22 locations around NSW forests as part of a $1.4 million investment announced by the state government on Saturday.
The AI-powered cameras will form the largest early detection fire network in Australia.
The technology is also being used to monitor parts of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
Forestry experts said the technology could not stop fires starting but would provide more comprehensive monitoring and could prevent catastrophic outcomes.
The tech rollout will follow the NSW Black Summer bushfire inquiry that recommended greater investments in remote fire detection, Regional NSW Minister Tara Moriarty said.
“By integrating AI-powered detection into our fire tower network, we’re enhancing traditional firefighting methods with cutting-edge technology that delivers real-time intelligence and faster response times,” Ms Moriarty said.
The specialised devices, developed by US firm Pano AI, use ultra high-definition cameras to scan for signs of fire and upload findings to trained analysts who can send alerts to landholders and emergency services.
The cameras will be installed on 22 fire towers in an area between Tamworth and the NSW and Victorian border, Pano AI Australia spokesman Andrew Prolov said, and will monitor 1.2 million hectares of land.
“We will never be able to stop a fire from starting – that’s just nature – but what we are able to do is detect them as soon as possible, allow the first responders to access an objective live camera stream to assess that fire, and then act appropriately,” he told AAP.
“We’ve got lots of case studies where we’ve been able to detect fire starting within the first five minutes, 10 minutes.”
Installation of the cameras is expected before summer.
Forestry Corporation NSW innovation manager Jamie Carter said the cameras would not replace human fire-spotters in towers but would complement their efforts.
Some weather conditions made staffing the towers unsafe, he said, and workers could not monitor for fires around the clock.
“Unfortunately, some of our most destructive fires have started on or near communities at night time, often by lightning or dumped cars that are set alight,” Mr Carter said.
“The advantage of this technology always being there is that it will help you 24 hours a day.”
In addition to monitoring state-owned softwood forests, the AI-powered cameras would detect fires on private land and in national parks, he said.
“We’re not doing this just because we want to look after our assets, we’ve actually recognised that we have a far broader role in fire detection across the landscape, across all land users,” he said.
“Putting these cameras in our fire towers to detect fires on other land is just as important to us.”
While large parts of Australia have experienced wetter than usual conditions, the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council warned parts of Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia will be at heightened risk of bushfires this spring.
The Black Summer bushfires, in 2019 and 2020, destroyed more than 24 million hectares of land and claimed 33 lives.
AAP
