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California City Moves to Install Wildfire Detection Cameras

Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., recently took a step toward becoming the first city in its area to install wildfire cameras that can detect the initial wisps of smoke that could portend a potentially devastating fire.

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(TNS) — Rancho Palos Verdes recently took a step forward in becoming the first city on the Peninsula to install wildfire cameras that can detect the initial wisps of smoke that could portend a potentially devastating fire.

The City Council last week unanimously voted to have staff move negotiate a contract with the company Pano AI for wildfire detection services.

The initial contract would potentially be for one year at $140,000, with an option for additional years pending funding approval. Pano AI will also agree to cover the $50,000 in costs to build two standalone stations for the cameras in the city. Part of the funding, about $125,000 of the first year of the contract, could come from the American Rescue Plan Act, according to city staff.

A contract proposal could go before the council during an August meeting, said City Manager Ara Mihranian.

Pano AI provides 360-degree, high definition cameras that are placed on high vantage points such as mountain tops, government-owned towers, cell phone towers or on private land. The self-rotating cameras, which will be placed on existing structures yet to be determined and newly constructed standalone stations, will run 24/7 and have a visibility range of about 15 miles, according to RPV Emergency Services Coordinator Jesse Villalpando.

"Some benefits include real time intelligence, such as situational awareness," Villalpando said, "to support Fire Department resources when responding to calls, as well as just the visibility."

Pano AI will also fully manage hardware, permitting, installation, monitoring, operations and repairs.

Residents deserve this kind of added protection, said Larry Maizlish, chairman of the city's Emergency Preparedness Committee."

"They are (Pano AI) the only vendor with this level of tech backed by actual humans to minimize false alerts," Maizlish said during the July 19 council meeting. "No other solution comes close to this level of wildfire detection. And they can get their system up and running for us in time for this year's high fire season."

The Palos Verdes Peninsula is known as an elevated fire-threat area, with the last major fire taking place in August 2009; that blaze burned about 230 acres, threatening homes and forcing more than 1,200 people to evacuate.

The cameras at the four stations are designed to catch early flareups, usually within four to five minutes, according to the Pano AI website, because the cameras scan the landscape and use "artificial intelligence to spot, evaluate, and signal wildfire activity within a 15-mile radius."

The city would have the option of having the wildfire camera live feeds available to the public, according to city staff.

The Pano AI Intelligence Center is alerted when a camera detects smoke. At the center, officials will determine if and where first responders are needed. If they are needed, first responders will receive the fire's location and movement information that is aided by time-lapse imagery and other information.

"It covers most of the Peninsula, except for some few canyons in two other cities, and parts of LA Basin," Mihranian said. "So even though you wouldn't probably have a wildfire in Torrance, it covers that far out."

It's not yet known where funding for beyond the next year will come from.

The city has requested Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding from the California Governor's Office of Emergency Management, totaling $650,000; the city would have to match 25% — or $162,500 — for the project. If approved, the earliest the city could receive that money would be early 2023.

The funds could cover additonal years of a contract with Pano AI, but if the city does not receive those funds, they will have the option of not renewing the one-year contract with Pano AI.

The $125,000 from ARPA, meanwhile, could be used toward the 25% the city would have to match for the HMGP grant.

Rancho Palos Verdes has been on the forefront of pursuing this technology, but the other three cities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula might join in a regional approach.

RPV Mayor David Bradley and Councilman Eric Alegria have recently been working as members of the Emergency Preparedness Committee with the other cities in hopes of getting them on board.

Mihranian and Villalpando gave a presentation to the Rolling Hills City Council during that panel's meeting on Monday, July 25.

Villalpando told that council that a joint venture between the other cities on the Peninsula could reach to nearly $300,000 a year, according to a request for proposals that RPV put out.

Mihranian pitched the idea of Rolling Hills helping contribute to the potential cost of the cameras, including the first year of operation.

"We all have our unique and individual interests and concerns," Mihranian said during Monday's meeting, "but we also have overlapping and common interest, especially when it comes to public safety and the emphasis on wildfire prevention."

A Peninsula-wide system would cost $298,000 per year with a minimum three-year agreement, RPV spokeswoman Megan Barnes said. That would include one site in Palos Verdes Estates on an existing tower and a standalone station in Rolling Hills.

Those would join four sites in RPV, two existing and two standalone, for a total of six stations on the Peninsula.

The total cost for three years would be $969,000 for the Peninsula-wide system when including installation costs of $25,000 for the three standalone stations, Barnes said.

Rolling Hills City Manager Elaine Jeng, who requested RPV speak to the council about the wildfire cameras on Monday, said the council did not need to take action on the report. But, Jeng said, the wildfire cameras could have a "positive effect on Rolling Hills."

Jessica Slawson, management analyst for Rolling Hills Estates, said in an email Monday the issue will be discussed through the Peninsula Public Safety Committee, which consists of two councilmembers from the four cities on the Peninsula. The next meeting will take place on Aug. 11.

"We are also participating in the exploration of wildfire cameras on the Palos Verdes Peninsula along with our neighboring cities," Slawson said in the email. "The City of Rolling Hills Estates is interested in the wildfire camera program."

RPV Councilmen Ken Dyda and John Cruikshank — the latter of whom directed staff in May 2021 to look into whether a wildfire detection system was feasible — said during the July 19 meeting that this should be a joint effort among Peninsula cities.

"Them paying nothing doesn't seem right," Cruikshank said, "and I bet at the end of the day they will come forward and all three will realize the benefi."

Alegria, for his part, touted the program as innovative.

"I think it goes a long way to helping our community," Algreia said, "to make sure that we continue to stay very safe."

© 2022 Palos Verdes Peninsula News, Calif. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.