Whereas the Province of BC spent 1.1 billion on fire management in 2023 and continues to spend millions on fire management annually, and understanding that detecting and responding to fires at their earliest stage saves lives, structures, forests, the environment and reduces the costly burden of wildfire control; And whereas early wildfire detection technology exists, is financially attainable and has been installed in some interface areas and successfully tested and used to detect fires: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the Province of BC to undertake installation of early wildfire detection technology in wildland-urban interface areas with a priority for installation in wildland interface areas bordering local government residential neighbourhoods.
Ministry of Forests Following on the 2023 wildfire season in British Columbia, one of the recommendations of the Premiers Expert Task Force focused on enhancing Wildfire Predictive Services by utilizing Artificial Intelligence Technology that would support situational awareness and public safety. One of the BC Wildfire Services BCWS responses to this recommendation has been to initiate development of a camera network to enhance wildfire detection, response planning, and situational awareness. Immediate actions included gathering information on best practices in other jurisdictions, such as working closely with CALFire to understand the trajectory and success of the ALERTWest AI Wildfire Detection and Situational Awareness system in California, and on entering a two-year collaborative trial with Rogers Communications and Pano AI that ran through the 2024 and 2025 wildfire seasons. This trial demonstrated that high-vantage cameras are an effective emerging technology that can improve operational response, situational awareness, and enhance public safety. This trial also generated valuable information to help inform the province-wide strategy going forward. Currently, the BCWS is developing a Provincial Camera Network Strategy in partnership with the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Ongoing activities include viewshed mapping, installation planning, website and interface construction to support 247 camera feeds for the 2026 wildfire season, and exploring opportunities to work with other governments, including municipal and First Nation, as well as industry and partners in response to actualize the strategy at the provincial scale. The long-term objectives of this project are to: - Provide province-wide coverage through the installation of dedicated wildfire cameras and by leveraging existing camera infrastructure used in transportation and climate monitoring. - Build a public dashboard that is accessible to communities and partner agencies. - Be fully interoperable with BCWS operations. - Be a purpose built, user-informed platform that will meet the unique challenges faced in BC.