Revolutionizing Fire Monitoring: Green Mountain Cameras Transforming Wildfire Detection

Are the days of the Fire Watch post over? Since I was 16, I thought the best life would be living alone in the woods. I found a perfect job for that too, a Forest Fire Lookout. Getting paid to spend the summer in a remote part of the woods in a tower surrounded by breathtaking scenery. I bet by the end of the summer I could have some deer and birds help me with chores like in the Disney movie about height-intolerant people. As a fire watchman, your job is to be in your tower like a lifeguard in the woods, looking for smoke or flames. You also fix up trails and do maintenance, and I'm assuming you read books.  

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ALERTWest

But the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lakeview District, in partnership with the Oregon Hazards Lab at the University of Oregon, has unveiled the latest addition to their arsenal against wildfires: the Green Mountain fire detection camera. Oregon's wildfire detection capabilities are significantly boosted with the installation of the Green Mountain camera, part of a network of over a thousand such devices on the ALERTWest platform.  

Vigilant Sentinels

This proactive initiative, sponsored by the BLM, now includes 16 cameras in Oregon and several in Washington. Equipped with advanced technology, these cameras act as vigilant sentinels, scanning for smoke and fire, and transitioning seamlessly to near-infrared at night. Beyond detection, they provide invaluable real-time data for fire and natural resource managers and the public, accessible through the ALERTWest platform. Public engagement is encouraged, with credentialed users able to control the cameras for comprehensive monitoring. With plans for further expansion, Oregon's firefighting capabilities are set to increase, ensuring constant vigilance over the landscape during the wildfire season.