Mobile Deployment Units

Portable Wildfire Camera Kits for Rapid-Response Deployment

The Oregon Hazards Lab manages a rapidly growing network of mountaintop wildfire detection cameras. Deployed at strategic locations across Oregon with 365-degree views of the surrounding landscape, these cameras provide a vital tool to detect and monitor fires while keeping first responders out of harm’s way. But sometimes a wildfire can spark far from the nearest camera, making it hard for firefighters to monitor the blaze. Wildfires can also burn over locations where fixed cameras have been installed, eliminating a vital resource for situational awareness. To help solve this challenge, the Oregon Hazards Lab is designing a new camera kit – or mobile deployment unit – that can be rapidly deployed in response to new ignitions.

Designing and Fabricating Mobile Deployment Units

In the fall of 2023, the U.S. Forest Service contacted the Oregon Hazards Lab with a request: could we design and fabricate a portable wildfire detection camera that could be hiked into a remote area and deployed in response to a new fire? Our Field Engineers then created a fully functioning proof-of-concept prototype, which was installed on a rocky ridge called Butler Butte in southwest Oregon to monitor the Anvil Fire.

Peek Inside a Mobile Deployment Unit

Each mobile deployment unit is powered by a lightweight foldable solar panel. A lightweight extendable mast tower ensures that cameras have 360-degree views of the surrounding landscape.

Peek Inside a Mobile Deployment Unit

Two lithium iron phosphate batteries, contained in the lower two Packout boxes, help to provide backup power at night and on cloudy days. Starlink technology is contained in the upper Packout box, and enables mobile deployment units to transmit live images.

Peek Inside a Mobile Deployment Unit

Mobile deployment units are designed to be plug and play so they can be set up by firefighters without direct on-site assistance from Oregon Hazards Lab field technicians. First responders simply need to insert the camera and solar panel cords into designated sockets.

Peek Inside a Mobile Deployment Unit

Mobile deployment units are sufficiently small and lightweight that a small crew of two to four firefighters can hike them into remote locations, with no individual component weighing more than 50 pounds.

Peek Inside a Mobile Deployment Unit

The public will be able to watch live feeds from mobile deployment units on ALERTWest.live and the Watch Duty app, just like streams from permanent fixed wildfire cameras.

In response to ongoing demand from public land management agencies, we continued to refine this initial prototype throughout the 2024 field season. Our goal is to create a camera kit that is sufficiently small and lightweight to be hiked into remote areas in a backpack. Each kit would include a camera and lightweight mast tower, a custom lithium-ion battery pack with solar panels, and Starlink connection for telemetry, with no single component weighing more than 50 pounds. This design is simple enough that a crew of two to four firefighters could set it up without direct on-site assistance from Oregon Hazards Lab staff. These rapid-response camera kits could be sold to agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management so they have mobile units on-hand to deploy as needed. We intend for this to generate sufficient revenue to become a self-sustaining project.

Mobile Unit Technical Specifications

Camera Hardware: Axis M5526-E

  • IP66 PTZ camera
  • 4 MP
  • 10x optical zoom
  • Continuous 360° pan

Camera Mast: Total Mast Solutions Hiperpod

  • 5.3m telescoping tripod mount

Power System: Solar Array and Batteries

  • 400W portable monocrystalline solar panels
  • 3.5kWh LiFePO₄ battery system

Connectivity: Integrated Starlink Mini (SpaceX)

  • Satellite data service included and provided through OHAZ
  • Remote state-of-health and telemetry monitoring also provided through OHAZ

Camera Command and Control: ALERTWest (a subsidiary of DigitalPath)

  • Fully integrated into the ALERTWest wildfire camera platform
  • Camera software, configuration, and onboarding provided through OHAZ

    Responsibilities of the Oregon Hazards Lab

      OHAZ will coordinate delivery, on-site setup, and integration testing for all mobile cameras. This includes:

      • On-site installation support and system testing
      • Configuration and network onboarding
      • ALERTWest account provisioning
      • Remote state-of-health and telemetry monitoring

      OHAZ field technicians will deliver the mobile wildfire camera platform to a mutually agreed upon, accessible on-road location. OHAZ will schedule pickup at the designated on-road location upon notice of rental termination.

      Responsibilities of Partner Agencies

      Transportation from the delivery point to the final installation site is the sole responsibility of the renter. Any additional transport, access, or handling requirements beyond the on-road delivery point must be arranged and provided by the renter as well.

      Mobile camera units are designed to be lightweight so a team can carry them into remote locations or so an individual can  through multiple trips. No single component weighs more than 42 pounds.

      At the conclusion of the rental period, the renter is responsible for transporting the equipment to an accessible on-road location for pickup by OHAZ field technicians. Retrieval from remote, off-road, or otherwise inaccessible locations is not included and must be coordinated and executed by the renter.

      Please email us at wildfirehelp@uoregon.edu to learn how your land management agency could use OHAZ mobile cameras.

      Thank You to Our Partners at the Roundhouse Foundation

      This project has been supported by the Roundhouse Foundation, which has provided philanthropic contributions to the Oregon Hazards Lab via the UO Foundation. This donation has enabled the Oregon Hazards Lab to upgrade the Butler Butte prototype to an engineered product and build out an initial stock of units to sell or rent to land management agencies during the 2025 field season. The Roundhouse Foundation is dedicated to supporting programs that inspire creativity, connect people with each other and their sense of place, and ensure sustainability for the long-term economic success of Oregon’s rural communities. Learn more about their work at roundhousefoundation.org.

      A young man sets up a wildfire camera in a forest while a woman watches.