VANCOUVER — Rogers Communications is announcing Thursday a new program aimed at early detection and prevention of remote wildfires in Northern British Columbia, where a disastrous fire season has burned vast swaths of wilderness and blanketed faraway communities in smoke.
The new technology, developed with the province’s wildfire service and the University of British Columbia, is “Canada’s first time deploying this type of technology,” said Neel Dayal, senior director of innovation and partnerships at Rogers.
“It’s a really interesting time for us, both as a society but also as a technology provider, to be able to tackle some of these problems with the technology available.”
Cameras capable of seeing wildfire smoke from 20 km away will be set up on wireless towers near Fort St. James, Smithers and Chetwynd and connected to the Rogers 5G network. Using artificial intelligence, the cameras — from wildfire-detection startup Pano AI — are expected to be able to pinpoint new fires within minutes of them starting.
A Rogers system currently in place uses Swarm, SpaceX’s connectivity service for the so-called internet of things (or IoT), to get data from sensors that measure various nonvisual indicators of forest fire danger, such as soil conditions and wind.
The information can then be seen by UBC and the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS), which determines a course of action.
The sensors are used more for prevention right now, Dayal said, but in future when combined with the cameras they could give a better indication of how serious a fire is when it is detected.
He said the areas chosen for the camera placements were identified by the BCWS as key areas for wildfire risk.
“They don’t have enough population density (so that) they’re getting notifications by people” when a wildfire starts, Dayal said. “This is where we think effectively we get the most value for this camera-based technology.”
Mathieu Bourbonnais, assistant professor of the department of earth, environmental and geographic sciences at UBC Okanagan, said in a news release that “These new technologies will expand the reach and capabilities of our existing network of 5G IoT sensors, giving us real-time data that can provide the foundation for an early warning system for wildfires and improve public safety.”
Wildfires in B.C. have been very destructive in 2023; nearly 2,200 fires in the province have burned almost 2.5 million hectares, the worst year on record. The previous worst season, in 2018, hit 1.35 million hectares.
This week the province was still issuing evacuation alerts in places threatened by wildfires. Many of the blazes are in remote areas, particularly in the north, but they can still threaten homes in rural areas — and often, by the time they are detected, the fires are large enough they cannot be handled easily.
Aaron Pawlick, manager of strategic initiatives and innovation at the BCWS, said in the news release that the government is seeking new ways to combat wildfires as concern about them grows.
“We are always interested in new ideas, technology, and innovations to inform our work,” Pawlick said. “We are pleased to receive data and information from this project and participate with Rogers, UBC and Pano in trialing these innovative technologies.”
Dayal said the new camera/5G system will be rolled out in the coming weeks and it’s hoped that by next year a clear picture of its success will be seen. “The measure would be how quickly we learned about a fire and were able to respond to it,” he said, adding that the project will also help determine the best way to deploy such technology elsewhere in Canada.
As part of Thursday’s announcement, Rogers is also donating satellite phones to first responders to aid their efforts.
Of the wildfires where a cause has been determined this year, 312 were started by lightning and 27 caused by humans. As of 4 p.m. PDT Wednesday, there were still 384 wildfires burning in the province, according to B.C.’s wildfire dashboard.
During the last seven years B.C. has suffered its four worst years on record for wildfires. This year’s disastrous season was not limited to the province, with 165,000 square kilometres being burned across Canada.
Researchers have said the increase in wildfire destruction was predicted with climate change, but has arrived sooner than expected.
With files from The Canadian Press.
