News from the Oregon Hazards Lab

Earthquakes threaten the safety of people and infrastructure across geopolitical boundaries. For this reason, collaboration is key to safety in Canada and the United States, particularly in border areas. The U.S. Geological Survey and Natural Resources Canada have collaborated to share science, algorithms, real-time data, and public safety information between the nation’s distinct earthquake early warning systems.

The quarterly OHAZ newsletter provides updates about new wildfire camera deployments, the buildout of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, and improvements to the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System.

Thanks to a new partnership with ALERTWest, Hawaiian Electric has begun deploying a network of wildfire cameras across the five islands served by the company. Camera footage will be visible at alertwest.live, alongside those operated by the Oregon Hazards Lab and other universities. This is the largest publicly available and interoperable wildfire detection system in the United States.

This award recognizes and celebrates faculty members’ substantial and impactful scholarly record on the University of Oregon campus. Leland O’Driscoll was honored for his instrumental role in the development and expansion of the Oregon Hazards Lab’s multi-hazard detection system.

AI-enabled wildfire cameras have already proven to be an improvement in California. So far, a similar system called ALERTCalifornia has had a false positive rate below 0.001%. Correct AI alerts sometimes come in long before 911 calls are made by people about a fire, making this system a possible game-changer in Oregon.

As the Pacific Northwest grapples with a changing climate, partnerships between academic institutions, private-sector innovators and emergency services will be a powerful tool in combating wildfires. Oregon is using high-tech cameras powered by AI to help. They can survey large landscapes while employing advanced algorithms to detect and alert first responders to new fire starts.