With wildfires at a peak, “Firetech’ is Joining the Smart City Lineups – Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law blog — September 17, 2024

The threat from extreme wildfires doubled over the past 20 years. In 2024, there will be almost 20,000 fires burning across the United States. These fires are often deadly, expensive and have long-lasting health and environmental effects. Researchers hope that the next-generation of smart technology, augmented with artificial intelligence (AI), can also play a crucial role in battling conflagrations. Many municipalities, particularly those near wildfire-prone forests, are beginning to incorporate fire-focused advances (or “firetech”) into their smart city ecosystems.

“Smart cities” are urban centers enhanced by utilities, emergency services, traffic signals and more that are linked through information and communications technology. Though the concept can spark cybersecurity-related concerns, many locales are gradually implementing many different kinds of smart tech. Hawaii, for instance, installed a cloud-based network of fire and wind sensors to detect wildfires using AI in real time after the Maui wildfire of 2023. These smart tools can help predict and discover fires, streamline emergency alert protocols, calculate vital analytics, and improve firefighter’s safety. The National Fire Protection Association is actively researching these innovations in terms of environmental (smart building or robotics), operational communication and personnel (PPE sensor or biometrics). Here are some of the key technologies that you should be watching in this emerging area:

• Smart sensors. In March 2024, a total of 80 sensors (64 wind sensors and 16 wildfire sensors) will be placed in Hawaii. Attached to existing poles, the sensors detect heat and then use AI and smart learning techniques to distinguish between smoke particles and gases from fires and those found in Hawaii’s air, such as volcanic ash or ocean salt. The sensors are arranged in “strings” and “talk” with each other, sending text messages to officials if they detect a problem. DHS explains that the sensors work like a nose to “sniff” out fires as soon they start. They also have round-the-clock sensing, alerting, and monitoring capabilities. The alert system in one trial gave first responders 37 minutes of head start, before the first 911 call was received. This could help firefighters to suppress the fires before they get out of hand, and could also give communities an earlier warning so that they can make evacuation decisions. DHS and partners plan to continue beta testing their latest hardware in other areas, including California. Colorado, Tennessee, Arizona and Canada.

Smart Satellite and Video Monitoring.

• Smart fire sensors are a novel concept. However, with the help of AI, tried and true tech (like satellites and videos) can play a role in smart city environments. Pano AI, an innovative firetech startup based in California, uses a network connected mountaintop cameras that capture real-time data and upload it to the cloud. The program uses AI object detection to distinguish smoke from nonsmoke and can share potentially problematic footage for human review. OroraTech is a German startup that has launched 100 satellites with a thermal infra red sensor to detect heat as radiation. Clouds and distance can hinder traditional satellites, which orbit higher. Orora’s models that are closer to home use an algorithm on board to spot and broadcast alerts within minutes. This capability helped combat last year’s Chilean fires. Orora’s Christian Molliere, a research engineer, told Reuters, “e are convinced that detecting fires from space, is the only scalable method.” The team also works on predictive AI technology, which provides detailed information in real-time about where and how a wildfire might spread. This includes weather forecasts, fuel availability, elevation data, and satellite data. Smart Helmets.[w] Researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, are developing an advanced smart helmet that can help firefighters find people faster and improve spatial awareness. The device (which can be fitted to any standard fire helmet) uses AI to pool data from thermal cameras, radar and other helmet-mounted sensors to provide real-time information–essentially allowing firefighters “see” through the smoke and darkness that are typical in a fire setting. The team hopes to eventually add features like 3D maps and built-in display screens.
• Robots. Firefighting has always been a uniquely human endeavor. In some situations, robots can do dangerous work. In its study on wildfire modernization, PCAST noted that “recent advances in autonomous drones and robotics can be leveraged to decrease the physical burdens of wildland firefighting” and “perhaps even reduce the need for human firefighters to be present on the front lines of active wildfires.”
• As such, the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) employs a human-controlled robot called Robotics Systems 3 (RS3). It has been able to save lives in many ways, such as by pulling horses from mud and dragging hoses up steep hills. RS3 weighs 3,500 pounds and can be controlled by operators from a distance up to 900 feet. They use heat sensors and cameras mounted on the machine in order to make decisions. LAFD recently added a drone program and the RS3 robot to its arsenal. The department is a great example of how smart fire systems work. It uses WIFIRE, a system that models AI, to plan routes for evacuation and predict fire paths. The city uses NotifyLA to send out early alerts, using the centralized data. The next frontier for firefighting robots will be autonomous models that use AI learning to react to their surroundings, and a new wave of drones such as the FireDrone, which will use AI to physiologically adapt to its settings and withstand high temperatures.Of course, firetech and its smart city applications expand far beyond wildfires. Leaders are also implementing AI-assisted solutions for traffic that allows emergency vehicles to reach their destinations quickly, smart tech such as personal alert safety devices which track firefighters’ location and environmental health risks and resource tracking and distribution. Smart sprinkler systems may soon be a standard in buildings. We may also see dynamic exit signs to move crowds out of burning buildings. For now, fire departments are sometimes stymied by the cost of the newest firetech–the RS3 robot used by LAFD costs about $300,000–but a renewed focus on these innovations may usher in a new era of life-saving technology for those working on the frontlines.

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