Stopping wildfires from spreading out of control may be easier than we think. Researchers at the University of Southern California state that networks of phones connected in high-risk areas could increase the early detection of life-threatening wildfires, according to Interesting Engineering.
Dubbed FireLoc, all of the phone systems are weatherproof, and the cameras point at plant life, maintaining the privacy of the people living in areas prone to wildfires. The lead author of the paper presenting FireLoc, Xiao Fu, also said that each system costs under $100 to set up.
When simulating its technology using data from the 2019 Getty Fire, FireLoc allowed researchers to detect at least 40% of fires in the area using four cameras. The technology was found to detect fires from 3,000 feet away, and FireLoc was able to "accurately map wildfires to within 180 feet of their origin," according to Interesting Engineering. This likely means that more detection will be possible with wider networks of phone cameras.
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Unfortunately, wildfires and their smoke claim thousands of lives each year.
But using FireLoc could prevent death, eliminate the cost of rebuilding destroyed neighborhoods, and keep the air cleaner for us and future generations. It could also allow regular people to have a positive impact on the environment. You don't have to be a researcher or a scientist to do something that would help save our planet.
While the paper discussing the technology was published in November, it is clear that FireLoc will bring balance and ease to communities in need when it becomes more available. Fu also said that wildfires are "very overwhelming for fire departments" since firefighters primarily rely on people to spot fires.
Automating the process of identifying fires will keep communities safer and take the burden off of firefighters to be in the right place at the right time.
One of the paper's co-authors and an assistant professor of computer science at USC, Barath Raghavan, commented on the paper's practicality and the technology it pushes forward. "We're combining all the information from the images in a way that solves the problem," Raghavan said, according to the university's website. "But we also reframed the problem — that is, how can we map fires as quickly as possible? This paper does both: reframing the problem and coming up with a solution."
Fu, Raghavan, and their colleagues have created a solution that acknowledges the speed we need to use when identifying wildfires to avoid catastrophe. All we need to make this solution a reality are a connection to the internet, electricity, weatherproofed phones, and willpower.
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