Jasper among 10 communities in Alberta, B.C. getting AI-powered wildfire detection system by 2025

As wildfires continue to plague Canada, new technology – including the use of artificial intelligence – could help fire crews catch wildfires within minutes of them igniting.

The partnership between Vancouver-based tech firm SenseNet and Rogers is bringing the technology to communities across western Canada.

“Our technology is a combination of several different types of technology, including a sensor, cameras, satellite and AI system,” explained Hamed Noori, CEO of SenseNet. “And using the cameras and sensors, we can detect a fire as early as possible. And also integrating these all together, we can predict the wildfire behaviour.”

The technology, powered by Rogers 5G network, works by using detection sensors and cameras. If anything is picked up, the data is analyzed through AI and early warnings are sent to firefighters.

“The new technology will help fire crews in B.C. and Alberta detect fires sooner,” said Tony Staffieri, president and CEO of Rogers. “It’s technology that’s already been used in Vernon, B.C., for the last few years helping fire crews there put out blazes faster.”

“We can detect a fire very fast,” added Noori. “Actually our technology is the fastest on the global scale. Last year the federal government did a test in the City of Vernon and they started a fire and we were able to detect the fire after 36 seconds… the fire department can send a crew before it gets out of control.”

Staffieri says climate change is worsening the “intensity and frequency of forest fires.”

“Unfortunately it’s probably going to increase exponentially over the next several years,” he said. “So at Rogers we’re trying to bring what we have to offer, which is a 5G wireless network and increasingly with satellite backup to connect all these devices to communities, to detect and prevent wildfires.”

The tech is coming to 10 communities across the country, starting with Sparwood and Willowvale in British Columbia. Several communities in Alberta will also receive the technology: Jasper, Grande Prairie, Christina Lake, Marmot Mountain, Peerless Lake, Pelican Mountain, Wabasca-Desmarais and Wood Buffalo.

The cameras and sensors will be in place by early spring 2025, with the plan being to roll the technology out in more communities across the country in the coming years.

Rogers is the parent company of CityNews.