Wildfire Detection Cameras | The Oregon Hazards Lab (2024)

There are currently 45 wildfire cameras in Oregon, and we plan to operate 75 cameras across the state by late 2025. These cameras help firefighters:

1. 1. Discover, locate, and confirm fire ignition
   2. Quickly scale fire resources up or down
   3. Monitor fire behavior through containment
   4. Improve evacuations through enhanced situational awareness

The increased situational awareness provided by wildfire cameras has many benefits. Fire managers can confirm 911 calls by reviewing camera footage instead of dispatching human resources or aviation to do reconnaissance. Not only is this safer and less expensive, but it preserved limited resources that may be needed elsewhere. Likewise, firefighters can also monitor prescribed fires and utility companies can monitor their resources during red flag days or firestorms.

Wildfire detection cameras have been in use in Oregon for over sixteen years. In addition to the camera network operated by the Oregon Hazards Lab, the Oregon Department of Forestry and multiple utilities operate other networks, although ours is the only network with publicly accessible footage. In 2022, the Governor’s office and federal agencies requested that agencies form the Oregon Wildfire Detection Camera Interoperability Committee (OWDCIC) to establish cooperation across the state in detection camera efforts.

The OWDCIC is chaired by Leland O’Driscoll, Associate Director of the Oregon Hazards Lab, and Jamie Paul of the Oregon Department of Forestry. Other members include the Statewide Interoperability Coordinator, representatives from the Governor’s Office, public safety agencies, structural fire agencies, utilities, emergency managers, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and tribal governments.

The OWDCIC’s mission is to build relationships and communication between agencies, increase technological interoperability and resilience, and to identify and implement best practices to achieve interoperable fire tools that support response agencies at a statewide scale. Committee work has resulted in accomplishments such as development of a statewide combined detection map GIS layer, annual efficacy reporting, and elimination of conflicts in siting and permitting between agencies. Technologies explored include remote deployable temporary camera towers and the use of alternate data backhaul providers such as Starlink.

How do wildfire detection cameras work?

These high-definition pan-tilt-zoom cameras have near-infrared capabilities and can zoom up to 32 times. They have a range of up to 40 miles in the daytime and 60 to 80 miles at night. Any member of the public can view still images that change every few seconds and watch time-lapse images on demand. Firefighters with log-in credentials can control the cameras and watch live video feeds in real-time. ALERTWest’s artificial intelligence capabilities enable early fire detection and can interface with other technologies to predict fire behavior.

Who can use the wildfire cameras?

Who are our collaborators in operating the wildfire camera network?

The University of Oregon cooperatively operates its camera network our collaborators, the University ofNevada, Reno; and the University of California, San Diego. We have contracted the private technology platform ALERTWest to host our cameras. We also collaborate with diverse federal, state, and county agencies; utilities; and local stakeholders in leveraging funding and installing cameras. Our Oregon sponsors and partners include the State of Oregon, the Bureau of Land Management, the Oregon Department of Transportation, Eugene Water and Electric Board, Rogue Valley Council of Governments, Lane Council of Governments, Lane County Educational Service District, Lane County Sheriff’s Office, Klamath Falls Community College, KATU2, Elevate Technology Group, Rogue Broadband, and Illinois Valley Data Center.

How do wildfire cameras support a multi-hazards observing network?

The Oregon Hazards Lab is increasingly co-locating wildfire detection cameras and Pacific Northwest Seismic Network seismic monitoring stations. The high-speed telemetry backbone needed to transmit images and videos in real-time can be leveraged to deliver real-time, state-wide monitoring for a multi-hazard system. Because wildfire cameras already require high bandwidth, this network is easily expandable to other low-bandwidth sensors like seismometers for the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System. Co-locating sites provides mutual benefits. Communities face a multitude of hazards, which cannot be addressed by a single-hazard detection system. Because monitoring networks are expensive and difficult to maintain, co-locating sites is both cost-effective and improves statewide resiliency for a variety of natural hazards. Seismic stations can take advantage of the cameras’ solar panels and high-bandwidth telemetry, whereas fire cameras benefit from seismic sites’ high standards for constant up-time, automatic failover, and redundancy. As of August 2024, there are 16 sites which host both a wildfire camera and seismic site.

Can people reshare images or videos from the wildfire cameras?