VIDEO/PHOTOS: University of Oregon’s Hazard Lab remains a resource for firefighters when it comes to detecting fast-spreading fires in remote areas, offering 75 cameras around the state to help officials monitor emergency situations. The lab originally started off as a seismic monitoring lab. Across the state they have earthquake monitors and then added wildfire monitoring in 2018.
The cameras, however, are also used to monitor environmental changes after earthquakes, For example, they were used to look at the ocean when the Oregon coast was placed under a tsunami advisory last month. “Our central mission is really public safety and also facilitating scientific discovery, lab director Leland O’Driscoll said. “We are founded in monitoring the earthquake activity in the region as well as fire activity and we can use the same kind of data collection systems and the same infrastructure mounting systems to do all of those things at one time.”
The camera takes a 360 degree panoramic video every minute. This is then run through the lab’s software system, Alert West, which looks for anomalies like smoke. This video is then sent to a staff member at one of the lab’s operation centers, which confirms if it is a fire. An alert is then sent out via text, email or phone call to first responders in that area.
