AI is already helping detect and monitor wildfires. Now, researchers are exploring how it could help fire officials decide where to deploy crews across multiple fires.

Studies show climate change is contributing to longer, more intense wildfire seasons, forcing officials to make high-stakes decisions about how to prioritize limited resources.

AI could help them process information to make those decisions faster. Jason Fallon, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service’s division chief for wildland fire intelligence, told Axios that AI is ingrained in many areas of wildfire management nationally, including monitoring, detection, information dissemination and data transfer.

• AI-powered cameras, satellite systems and weather-prediction tools are helping agencies in Western states detect wildfires and deploy crews sooner.
• For satellite data triage, AI can “help us quickly work through a workflow to separate noise from reality,” Fallon said.

Léonard Boussioux, an information systems professor at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, is part of a team researching how machine learning and optimization could assist fire officials in deciding where to send crews when multiple wildfires are burning.

Axios

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PHOTOS: Emergency crews pulled a young boy from Angle Lake after a reported drowning at the park on Tuesday afternoon, according to Puget Sound Fire. Puget Sound Fire said it and SeaTac police responded and searched the lake before finding the victim.

Firefighters and paramedics from King County Medic One provided “lifesaving medical assistance,” Puget Sound Fire said. The boy was underwater for about 17 minutes, the agency said. The child was then taken to a Seattle-area hospital in critical condition. Officials did not provide any other information on the cause of the drowning.

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A victim who was found dead during the Chelan Hills Fire in Douglas County has been identified nearly two months later. Fire officials said that on July 5, the victim’s remains were found inside a vehicle that had gone off the road and was consumed by fire. The victim is 69-year-old Robert. M. Lister, a resident of Orondo, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO).

Douglas County Sheriff Tyler Caille said the fire, which was reported on July 4, is being investigated as human-caused. At least 9,700 acres were burned, and more than 100 structures, including homes, were destroyed. Caille said detectives are continuing their in-depth investigation into what started the fire and the events that led to Lister’s death.

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PHOTOS: Huge flames poured from a warehouse in Kent overnight as firefighters battled a two-alarm fire. The fire broke out early Wednesday morning along 80th Avenue South, just west of Highway 167.

Puget Sound Fire said that when firefighters arrived, the fire was burning through the roof of the building. The building is a seafood supplier’s warehouse. No one was inside at the time of the fire, and no firefighters were hurt.

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Governor Bob Ferguson has expanded an existing emergency proclamation about wildfires in Washington to include five more counties including Benton and Kittitas Counties.

On August 4, Governor Ferguson issued an emergency proclamation for a state of emergency related to wildfires burning across the state. The emergency proclamation was intended to help local governments cover the costs of evacuating and providing shelters for people who are displaced by wildfires, as well as help with firefighting efforts. When it was first declared, the declaration covered Chelan, Ferry, Okanogan, Spokane, Stevens and Yakima Counties as well as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and the Spokane Tribe of Indians.

On August 31, Governor Ferguson amended his emergency proclamation to include Benton, Kittitas, Columbia, Grant and Whitman Counties. The amendment also extends eligibility for the State Individual Assistance Program and the Family Emergency Assistance Program, as well as protections from eviction for people who had to evacuate due to a fire.

“Wildfires have destroyed Washingtonians’ homes across a broad geographic area,” Governor Ferguson said in a written statement. “We remain laser-focused on assisting Washingtonians who have lost so much. My emergency proclamation extends important protections and expands eligibility to ensure everyone impacted can seek the help they need.”

The new amendment to the emergency proclamation extends several state protections and assistance for another two months. The protections against eviction have also been extended to last until September 30.

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