Vernon to participate in early warning wildfire research program
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Sensors will be set up throughout the City of Vernon as part of a new project to quickly identify potential wildfires.
The Wildland Fire Ultra-Early Detection Research initiative, held in partnership with the University of British Columbia (UBC) and SenseNet, will see 50 to 100 small sensors installed around the city to detect potential wildfires through the use of emergent made-in-B.C. artificial intelligence technology.
A small research project using the technology was conducted in Williams Lake in 2021, and a larger scale trial is now needed, and Vernon was identified as a valid area to conduct that research.
A report to city council Monday, July 18, stated that 10 to 15 of the sensors can blanket an area of 1,000 hectares, and they are sensitive enough to differentiate between a campfire and a wildfire, meaning it will be useful when applied to areas such as Ellison Provincial Park.
