Colorado lawmakers look to AI to detect wildfires earlier

By JESSE BEDAYN
Associated Press/Report for America

DENVER (AP) — A bill introduced in the Colorado legislature would create a $2 million pilot program to use cameras, likely with artificial intelligence technology, in high-risk locations to help identify fires before they burn out of control. The bill comes a year after the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history scorched nearly 1,100 homes. The goal is for cameras and an AI algorithm to detect the plume of smoke and alert first responders who can stomp out the blaze before it grows. The proposed pilot program to help quench increasingly drastic wildfires in Colorado will receive its first hearing from lawmakers on Thursday.