The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently granted the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and Sonoma County $2 million for long-range fire detection cameras for its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
The program aims to prevent the loss of life as well as property and economic damage. It will cost $2.7 million with nonfederal sources funding the $700,000 balance.
The 27 high-definition cameras will be mounted on 17 high elevation towers located in strategic locations in Sonoma County and portions of Mendocino, Lake, Napa, and Marin counties.
The cameras are capable of detecting smoke and fire up to 60 miles away during the day and up to 150 miles away at night using infrared technology. Once a fire is detected, the system will email or text data and images to Sonoma County and CAL FIRE dispatch centers.
Auxiliary cameras will monitor ongoing fires and search for new blazes.
Once the system is operational, emergency personnel will be able to mobilize firefighting resources to critical locations.
Personnel also will be able to send evacuation warnings to residents.
FEMA has a program by the same name that helps states, territories, federally-recognized tribes, local communities, and certain private, nonprofit organizations reduce future disaster costs and become more resilient to potential infrastructure damage.