VIDEO: This week, a lightning strike in a remote section of Douglas County wilderness could have led to disaster. “Really, nobody could see that fire,” said Mike Alexander, director of Douglas County’s Office of Emergency Management. “No one was able to see the smoke.” Luckily, a camera that uses artificial intelligence did see the fire Sunday near Turtle Mountain. It sent out alerts and coordinates to first responders.
“We receive these alerts through our cell phones and email, and we’re able to then take a look immediately at live footage of the alert,” Alexander explained. “Without that notification from this camera, we wouldn’t have known about this fire until it was either too late or too large to do something about it.”
It took wildland firefighters two hours to get to the remote fire on foot, but Alexander and Douglas County OEM were quickly able to launch their helitack crew and firefighting helicopter, which was over the fire and dousing flames in about 30 minutes. In less than four hours, the fire was contained.
