Vernon, BC participating in early wildfire detection research. Globalnews.ca

The foggy conditions created by the 2017 and 2018 fire seasons in B.C. left one Vancouver entrepreneur wondering why more was not being done to detect wildfires before they were extinguished.

Now Hameed Noori’s business is SenseNet Inc. is testing a technology that aims to do just that and will be partnering with the city of Vernon on a two-year pilot project.

Vernon’s fire chiefs are excited to be part of a pilot project that will see dozens of sensors to detect wildfires installed around the city.

Right now the authorities are mainly relying on the people involved in the fire.

“Credibility depends on people seeing it, figuring it out and then doing the right thing. On the other end of the spectrum we have satellite imagery and some very expensive options, but it looks like it could be a very practical affordable way to blanket a community,” said Vernon Fire Chief David Lind.

During a two-year pilot project, SenseNet Inc. is expected to install a network of 50-100 sensors to form a type of fire-detection belt around the city.

Sensors collect data in real time about environmental conditions and an algorithm processes the data to look for anomalies that could indicate a fire.

“For example, rising temperatures, decreasing humidity, increasing CO levels, or sudden changes in NO2 levels or methane levels,” explained Shahab Bahrami, the company’s chief technology officer.

“These discoveries are very sensitive so any small changes that are abnormal can be detected by our AI algorithms.”

The business says it has previously successfully tested the technology in Vancouver and Williams Lake and is now attempting to train its algorithms in a different climate and cut down on false alarms.

“The system is very unique because it does not rely on smoke or a very large heat signature. We can detect a fire even when there is no smoke or no flame in the smoldering stages,” Noori said.

Noori explained that even at that early stage the fire would release gases that the sensors could detect.

This week the city council allowed employees to proceed with SenseNet on the trial, which will be funded by the business and a research grant.

There is no cost to the city.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity to do some of our sensing in some of the more remote areas. Vernon has this long stretched footprint and we have a lot of wildland interface with lots of one-way, one-way out access.” ..” said Lind.

The pilot project is scheduled to begin in August and will last for two years.

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