Tasmania to expand fire detection tech after AI cameras spot 550 blazes
As fire crews were responding to two fires on Tasmania's east coast in December, an AI camera nestled in a nearby vantage point spotted a third blaze. The early detection meant the fire was extinguished just two hours later.
It's a hot day in early December, and the Tasmanian winds are fierce.
Firefighting teams are stretched, with blazes burning at both Dolphin Sands and St Helens on the east coast.
They're mopping up at Dolphin Sands, where 19 homes have been lost, but the fire is still alive at St Helens.
Suddenly, a remote artificial intelligence camera spots a tiny plume of smoke a few kilometres away near St Mary's, in the middle of tinder-dry bush.
The cameras came into assistance while firefighters were battling a blaze near St Helens in early December. (ABC News: Meg Whitfield)
It's 8:30 in the morning. An alarm pings, the real-time pictures are checked, before fire headquarters is alerted.
A chopper is then deployed from the St Helens blaze to the exact coordinates, to douse the flames.
From the first alert to extinguish, two hours have passed.
For the tired firefighters still working on the coast, it's a fire disaster averted.
The cameras have been developed by Indicium Dynamics, a software company based in southern Tasmania. (ABC News: Jasmine Snow)
Tech helps crews find blazes 'really quickly'
The prompt response to the fire is a big relief for Shaun Suitor from Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT).
His organisation is one of the key agencies involved in firefighting across Tasmania's remote regions, alongside the Parks and Wildlife Service.
"The early detection allowed the STT duty officer to send staff and equipment there to put it out really quickly," Mr Suitor said.
Shaun Suitor says the cameras help firefighters respond to bushfires faster. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
The fire detection technology is developed by Indicium Dynamics, a software company based in southern Tasmania.
"The St Helens fire was spotted by remote cameras as well, although it was also called in by locals at the same time," the company's chief executive Rob Vernon said.
It's the remote fires, some ignited by lightning, that this technology is really expected to be a game changer for.
Now with a $1.4 million federal government grant, STT and Indicium Dynamics will double their remote firefighting technology, by rolling out a new generation of remote cameras, drones, and supporting technology across Tasmania.