Fire Cameras, AI and Satellites
Unblinking Eye: Early Wildfire Detection
Sonoma County’s Experiment:
Artificial Intelligence & Fire Response

A Talk by Samuel Wallis
Deputy Director
Sonoma County Emergency Management

Wildfire safety relies heavily on detecting fires early to both extinguish them before they grow unmanageable, as well as to alert and evacuate communities as early as possible if immediate suppression becomes impossible. Following 2017, Sonoma built up a network of fire detection cameras. Starting in 2021, Sonoma became the first County in the country to experiment with artificial intelligence to detect wildfires early on. This two-year pilot program revealed a lot about the capability and limitations of the technology. Sam will talk about what has been done historically in wildfire detection and describe the developing camera network, how the AI system was implemented and its effectiveness. He will also mention other systems and technologies used for early fire detection and confirmation.

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