Catching fire: AI is helping scarce firefighters better predict blazes

A firefighter passes a burning home as the Dixie Fire flares in Plumas County, California on Saturday, July 24, 2021. As this year’s fire season flares in the western US, Calkin is charging ahead with his research agenda, hoping to produce insights on everything from where planes should drop fire retardant to how hotshot crews – elite firefighting units – spread out during a blaze. — AP

LOS ANGELES: Last summer, as Will Harling captained a fire engine trying to control a wildfire that had burst out of northern California’s Klamath National Forest, overrun a firebreak and raced towards his hometown, he got a frustrating email.

It was a statistical analysis from Oregon State University forestry researcher Chris Dunn, predicting that the spot where firefighters had built the firebreak, on top of a ridge a few miles out of town, had only a 10% chance of stopping the blaze.