Love this quote:
"... all of this points to a community that is beginning to believe that their best chance of survival of their property is not luck, or insurance, or anything other than the work they do to create a resilient community."
Solid article on all the hard work the team at Berkeley Fire and the residents are doing to help reduce their wildfire risk. It takes a full systems approach to change risk in the community but this is how we do it.
David Sprague Shanalee Gallagher, MPP Christopher AnthonyFrank Frievalt Brendan Devlin
4 years ago today, in the middle of one of California’s “worst” fire seasons, the small communities of Igo and Ono woke up to an eerie day. It was a day most firefighters can recognize instantaneous as a bad day, there is a sense of foreshadowing that is hard to describe. The air is dry, the wind is blowing, and every hair on the back of your neck instantly stands up.
What most people don’t know, is the day before my family had gathered to lay my father to rest, after he lost his battle with cancer earlier in the year. Before that Sunday was over my childhood home and the community that I loved so dearly would be annihilated by a wind driven fire for which no wildfire tech or resources would be able to stop.
Now you might be thinking, Rachael then why on earth do you spend so much time in the Wildfire Tech space. The answer is simple, some wildfire tech does make a difference.
For example, what was then the ALERTWildfire camera network, and is now the ALERTCalifornia camera network helped me that fateful day gain some of the most helpful situational awareness. The phrase a “picture is worth a thousand words” is no truer than when you hear there is a fire near you and the wind is blowing. The quick situational awareness that I obtained lead to a phone call that got my best friend’s mom out of the path of the fire quickly. Her house would be destroyed in the first hours of the fire. She had just enough time to grab a couple things before driving out through flames to safety.
That same situational awareness gave me the knowledge I needed to help get my mother and her animals evacuated to the family ranch. Even if she did come back later and may have been missing for a couple hours, but that is story for another time (find me at a conference and buy me a drink, you will learn where my perseverance comes from).
That same situational awareness gave my husband and I knowledge we needed to continue to stay and fight the good fight with our community. The fight that saved my mom’s home in the middle of the night. The fight that kept our home from burning down and many of our neighbors.
This fire was also the catalyst for creating the Wildfire Aware app the following year. As I spent time in the community as we recovered there was a common theme, I didn’t know there was a fire until it was too late. This the passion behind the project, and the hope I have for the future of wildfire tech.
As each year passes I am blown away by the continued advancements being made, below are a few companies and organizations to watch if you aren’t already:
ALERTCalifornia (even though I am bias)
Earth Fire Alliance and the FireSAT project
BurnBot, Inc.Fire AsideRainOverwatch Aero, LLCFlameMapperFire Neural Network
But most importantly on this anniversary I would like to take time to remember the community members whom lost their lives, may you rest and peace and your memory continue to live on. #ZoggFire
Excited to continue to see additional research and models focused on wildfire spread through the WUI. The more we can push the science here and make tools available to community leaders the better.
Innovative solutions are crucial in our fight against the devastating impacts of wildfires and, more broadly, climate change. Addressing these challenges requires a collective effort from governments, investors, businesses, and communities. From Day 1 we've co-created the Fire Aside platform engaging all members of the community. Encouraging to see (and honored to be mentioned in) articles highlighting the innovation of the #Firetech community to help everyone adapt to wildfire.
What do Kudzu, Private Bridges & Hot Tubs (in Zone 0) all have in common?
These are some the latest discoveries added to the Fire Aside data platform this month based on requests from partners. These new updates are immediately available to all our partners in 8 states ensuring data quality, consistency and benchmarks across communities.
While the data is highly structured on the backend, the front end is always flexible around messaging and usage:
- Kudzu you simply need to remove (goats rule)
- Private bridge is available in our first responder export layer to improve their situational awareness
- The presence of a hot tub near the structure can disqualify from certain insurance certifications
#WUIDataChristopher AnthonyIlkay Altintas, Ph.D.Craig SnodgrassYana ValachovicTodd LandoCharlotte Jourdain, MPP, PhDSeth SchaletDustin LiebmanDon Moore
"ChipperDay" comes in all shapes and sizes. The insight for Truckee Fire Protection District is that using a grappling arm enables residents to create bigger piles and allows larger limbs. In addition to getting more fuel out of residential areas, the data has demonstrated a better ROI vs. a traditional chipping truck & machine. Saving taxpayer money, increasing community participation and reducing risk pile by pile....
Visit https://lnkd.in/gRyAymek to see if we are supporting any events near you and then make your pile.