WA state agency inks deal with AI company to help spot wildfires

Panos AI will install cameras on mountaintops to provide better monitoring of high-risk fire areas.
The number of acres that burned in Washington wildfires last summer was down from past years, in part because the state emphasized attacking fires early to keep them from growing large and out of control.

The state’s Department of Natural Resources is doubling down on that, signing a new agreement with a California artificial intelligence company on a pilot project to locate new wildfires and keep them from growing.

State Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz says Pano AI will install 21 revolving high-definition security cameras on mountaintops around Washington state. Pano CEO Sonia Kastner says cameras will be connected to structures such as cell phone towers and water tanks. They feed information to artificiaI intelligence and satellite technology.