With the devastation of last summer’s Bush Creek East wildfire fire still keenly felt, Chase council requested a demonstration of the SenseNet Rapid Wildfire Detection Technology for possible consideration.
At the April 2 meeting, chief administrative officer Joni Heinrich provided a report on the new technology, with which the Vernon Fire Department is currently conducting a pilot project at Predator Ridge, which will be included in the presentation.
“They have some real time examples from Predator Ridge outside of Vernon… so they’ll actually show what those cameras are seeing, and what the sensors look like,” she told council. “They’ll give us an idea, after they give us the demo, of cost.”
Heinrich did, however, say there is no cost related to having the demonstration.
She added that should council decide to move forward with SenseNet, 30 sensors and two cameras could be installed on the north facing, forested slopes across Highway 1. The cost would be approximately $60,000, not including installation, with monitoring to be done by the community, either through the fire department or another organization.
“While costly, fuel mitigation in the interface area would be much more expensive (approximately $10,000 per hectare – 300 hectares equals 3 km2),” Heinrich said in the report, adding there may be grant funding or cost sharing opportunities with area First Nations.
“Such technology would give some peace of mind to residents of Chase, Adams Lake Indian Band and Neskonlith Indian Band.”
With Neskonlith having already expressed interest, council unanimously passed the motion to request the demonstration at an upcoming meeting, and invite neighbouring First Nations to participate.
Read more: Concerns sparked by handling of Shuswap wildfire shared by regional district
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