As Wildfires in Arizona Grow More Intense, Emerging Tech Could be Key in the Fight

By: Mayor Roberta “Birdie” Canó

Climate change has made wildfires an increasingly deadly and destructive force in Arizona. As our summers have grown longer and hotter, wildfires have gone from seasonal to year-round threats. This climate shift was made evident in 2020 when over 2,500 wildfires raged throughout the state and burned nearly 1 million acres of state, federal, and tribal lands in one of the most destructive years on record. Even though the past few years have shown a dip in the number of fires, we’re still losing hundreds of thousands of acres each year—presenting us with a crisis that demands immediate action.

While we work as a state to lower our carbon footprint and mitigate the long-term effects of climate change, we must explore new strategies to adapt to these new conditions. Due to consistent drought conditions, fires burn hotter and spread faster, and firefighters need new tools in their arsenal to combat them safely.

Fighting fires in Arizona is already challenging. Due to our uniquely rugged terrain and remote canyons, fires in their early stages can be challenging to catch and can smolder unnoticed until they’re too large to contain. That’s why I’m proud to see the embrace of new technologies that can monitor these remote areas and give real-time alerts to first responders on the ground of fire starts, which could prove to be one of the most valuable tools to emerge in the past several decades.

Over the past few months, Arizona companies have begun installing cameras powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that offer around-the-clock monitoring of high-risk fire areas. Through constant data collection and analysis and the camera’s machine-learning capabilities, the network of over 30 cameras can identify early signals of a beginning fire, even from up to 10 miles away from where they are placed. This automated monitoring and the vital data it produces, matched by integral human monitoring by local authorities and the U.S. Forest Service, are forming an increasingly responsive network of early detection and warning that gives first responders the time to reach and extinguish fires before they grow out of control.

Thankfully, these technologies have already proven their worth. Earlier this year, an AI camera in the Prescott National Forest detected smoke from the Brady Fire before it had consumed an acre of land. Near the end of last year, the cameras also gave an early warning for the Horton, Guzzler, and Valentine fires—limiting their spread.

After an intensely dry winter, the possibility of severe wildfires this year is concerningly high. However, with the new network of AI-powered cameras and the continued dedication of our heroic firefighters, I feel at ease knowing we are leveraging cutting-edge firefighting technology to keep our residents and their property safe. As we expect to see the same climate trends in the years to come, I hope we’ll continue to see the same public-private collaboration and willingness to embrace innovation to tackle this pressing challenge to limit wildfires' impact on our state and its communities.