AI wildfire detection bill gets initial approval in Colorado

By JESSE BEDAYN
Associated Press/Report for America

DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers unanimously voted to push forward a bill that would create a $2 million pilot program to use cameras and artificial intelligence technology to help identify fires before they burn out of control. The bill was approved by a Senate committee Thursday, and comes a year after the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history scorched nearly 1,100 homes. The goal is for cameras and an AI algorithm to detect the plume of smoke and alert first responders who can stomp out the blaze before it grows. The proposed pilot program to help quench increasingly drastic wildfires in Colorado will move to the state Senate Appropriations Committee next.