8 FEBRUARY 6-12, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Where There’s Smoke CAN AI CAMERAS HELP BATTLE WILDFIRES IN COLORADO? BY CATIE C HESHIRE Since 2021, the Aspen Fire Department has used four cameras equipped with artifi cial intelligence to identify smoke in the air. The technology helps fi refi ghters spot fi res early, examine the scope of blazes, and allocate fi re mitigation resources more effectively. “It really gives us a little bit of a leg up in terms of getting a rapid response,” Aspen Fire Chief Rick Balentine says. “We’re able to view the camera from really anywhere, see if it’s a real fi re or, potentially, what size fi re it is. We can get air resources called im- mediately before we get fi refi ghters there.” Early actions like calling in air resources right away and being able to pinpoint where a blaze originates help the department pre- vent destruction from wildfi res that may otherwise get out of control, he adds. Aspen Fire was the fi rst fi re department in the state to purchase and use AI wildfi re detection cameras, spurred by a local school losing insurance coverage because of wildfi re risks; Balentine heard of a similar experience from a homeowners association in the area. The fi re chief thought purchasing AI cameras could help people regain coverage — or, at least, have a higher chance to stay protected with- out it — but the com- pany that provided the technology, Pano AI, was a startup at the time. Balentine was hesitant to use public money for an untested prod- uct, but the de- partment found a private benefactor who funded the fi rst year of camera use. In less than four years, the donation has already paid dividends, Balentine says. “Sometimes technology is something that’s not really easily embraced by the fi re industry, or it hasn’t been in the past,” he says. “That’s slowly changing and now rapidly changing. I’m a fi rm believer that if we’re going to get a handle on any of this stuff that is going on with climate change — or whatever you want to call it — we’ve got to be able to embrace technology to make our job faster, safer, easier.” The cameras are mounted on communi- cation towers and cover a ten-mile radius, providing an exact latitude and lon- gitude of a fi re — though Balentine says that their range can extend further, depending on topography. For example, Aspen Fire’s cameras were able to de- tect a fi re that started near Twin Lakes last summer and one in Crested Butte the year before that, just not with the exact latitude and longitude. Having two cameras with overlapping range helps with accuracy, too, Balentine notes. The cameras work by fl agging anything that ap- pears to be smoke. From there, humans confi rm that what the cam- eras are picking up is actually smoke and then send a notifi cation to the fi re department. Nearby fi re departments in Basalt and Carbondale have added the cameras since Aspen Fire adopted the technology, as have some energy companies in the area, Balen- tine says. There are now nine AI detection cameras in the Aspen Valley, and the depart- ments share information. “When we first started talking about these cameras...my hope was that it could be something not just high-end resort districts that may have funds could afford,” Balentine says. “I wanted to make sure it was going to be able to get out to less fortunate fi re departments and counties around the state. …This is very close to my heart, and I really hope other fi re departments can use this technology.” A bill in the Colorado Legislature seeks to provide funding for wildfi re detection across the state. Sponsored by Senator Lindsey Daugherty and Representatives Ron Weinberg and Kyle Brown, Senate Bill 25-011 directs the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control to establish agreements with private partners to place more AI-enabled smoke detection cameras throughout the state. To do so, the proposed legislation would create a new Front Line Innovation and Response Effi ciency cash fund (FIRE fund), which would receive $1 million in the 2025-2026 fi scal year, $2 million in the 2026-2027 fi scal year and $3 million in the 2027-2028 fi s- cal year. “Unfortunately, wildfires aren’t something that only happens in the sum- mer,” says Daugh- erty, who grew up in Loveland and whose parents still live there. “I’ve seen it shift to where we’re having wildfi res all year round. …It’s not getting better. It is, in fact, getting worse, so we need to make sure that we have as many tools in the toolbox to help folks so that they don’t lose everything.” Daugherty, who represents parts of Ad- ams and Jefferson counties, cites recent fi res that caused destruction in Los Angeles and the Marshall fi re that wreaked havoc in Boulder County in 2021 as examples of previously unthinkable winter fi re events. “People are starting to realize that no one is really immune to wildfi res, because you used to think there’s no way entire sub- divisions would burn, and then we had the Marshall fi re,” Daugherty says. “This isn’t a problem that’s going to get better. It’s one that we need to adapt to.” Balentine, who fi rst started fi ghting fi res in 1989, notes that fi res are hotter, bigger and fi ercer now. “It used to be, we were pretty much guar- anteed a number of months a year that there wasn’t a fi re,” he says. But now, “we can’t let our guard down at any time.” Daugherty says she has found about forty AI smoke-detection cameras in use in Colo- rado. After working with fi refi ghters to craft the bill, she says most departments are eager to have more tools to catch fi res faster. According to Daugherty, the AI cameras used by Aspen Fire automatically pixelate homes and other private areas; because the AI is designed to detect smoke, the cameras are mostly looking in the air. The Attorney General’s offi ce weighed in and deemed the cameras safe for privacy rights, she says. However, the Colorado Association of Realtors (CAR) is pushing for amendments to the bill to ensure those privacy rights are protected in the law. “We understand the intent, and we want to do everything we can to protect our com- munities against wildfi re,” says Brian Tanner, vice president of public policy for CAR. “At the same time, when you have cameras, how are those property NEWS KEEP UP ON DENVER NEWS AT WESTWORD.COM/NEWS continued on page 10 The Marshall fi re destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Colorado in December 2021. GETT Y IMAGES/MILE HIGH TRAVELER A fi re burning in Colorado this summer. EVAN SEMÓN PHOTOGRAPHY
