From his home in Northern California, Nick Russell, a former ranch manager, is monitoring the Los Angeles-area fires.
He knows that about 600 kilometers south, people in Los Angeles are relying on his team’s live neighborhood-by-neighborhood updates on fire outbreaks, smoke direction, surface wind predictions and evacuation routes.
Russell is vice president of operations at Watch Duty, a free app that tracks fires and other natural disasters. It relies on a variety of data sources, such as cameras and sensors throughout the state, government agencies, first responders, a core of volunteers, and its own team of reporters.
An emergency at their home, for example, would be “very different” from one at their neighbor’s home up to 4 kilometers away, Russell said. “This is true for communities everywhere, and that’s where technology really comes in.”
Call of Duty’s expansion of delivery of localized information is one reason for its success with its 7 million users, many of whom have downloaded the app in recent weeks.
It acts as a virtual emergency operations center, collating and verifying data points.
The success of Call of Duty points to the promise that technologies such as detection and sensors will give residents the real-time information they need to survive and fight natural disasters.
Google and other firms have invested in technology to track fires. Many startup firms are looking for ways to use AI, sensors and other technologies in natural disasters.
Utility firms work with Gridware, a company that places A-enhanced sensors on power lines to detect a tree branch touching the line or any excess vibration that might indicate a problem. Can give.
Among Watch Duty’s technology partners is AlertCalifornia, run by the University of San Diego, which has a network of more than 1,000 A-enhanced cameras across the state looking for smoke. Fires are often detected before people call emergency lines, Russell said.
With information from AlertCalifornia, Russell said, “we have become the eyes and ears of the fire”.
Another Watch Duty partner is N-5 Sensors, a Maryland-based firm. Its sensors, which are placed in the ground, detect smoke, heat and other signs of fire.
“They’re like a nose, if you will, so they detect smoke anomalies and different chemical patterns in the air,” Russell said.
Watch Duty is available in 22 states, mostly in the western US, with plans to expand to all states.
Russell said because of the focus of the fires, the fire brigade plans to track a natural disasters search engine that can trigger natural disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis.
“Fire isn’t in the name,” Hey said. “We want to be that one-stop shop where people can turn to what they need at the time, there’s a source that makes it clear and concise about what’s going on.”
