As it heats up this week, firefighters on the Peninsula have a new tool to help detect when a wildfire breaks out. The device uses AI to determine what is burning and where.
It’s something firefighters in parts of the South Bay and East Bay are already using.
50 of the new N-5 sensors have been installed throughout the Peninsula to alert fire agencies if a wildfire sparks. Firefighters expect they will be especially useful in the so-called wildland urban interface, where cities and towns meet the dry landscape.
“We don’t want to wait until it’s fully developed with a large plume of smoke when people actually notice it. We want to get it beforehand,” Kimberly Giuliacci, Division Chief at the Woodside Fire Protection District. One of the newly installed sensors is located on Skyline Boulevard in Woodside.