ALERT WILD FIRE

ALERTWildfire is a network of over 1,000 specialized camera installations used by first responders and volunteers to detect wildfires before they become too big. The cameras also support critical evacuation and firefighting efforts by relaying real-time information when it’s needed most in emergencies.

In 2009, a group of high school students in Meadow Vista (just outside Lake Tahoe) came up with the idea for ALERTWildfire, built the first prototype, and won the Innovate Award at the Children’s Climate Action in Copenhagen, Denmark. Over the past few years, the program has expanded as a collaboration across nearly 90 federal agencies, utilities, and organizations.

Today, wildfires are having an increasingly dramatic impact on our planet and the brave firefighters who keep us safe, need our support.

Please support the expansion and ongoing maintenance of the AlertWildfire camera at Blackwood Canyon, an important blindspot on the West shore of Lake Tahoe.

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Captured on 02, 09, 2021 by Brian Walker / Brian Walker Photography

THE SYSTEM

AlertTahoe, which was a pilot program deploying (pan, tilt, zoom) PTZ cameras and microwave networks in the region surrounding beautiful Lake Tahoe. This initial project was funded through the Nevada Seismological Laboratory (NSL) at UNR, the Tahoe Prosperity Center, the Eldorado National Forest, and the USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Tahoe Prosperity Center was the core fundraiser for AlertTahoe private donations. Thanks to the generosity of numerous local funding partners, these initial 11 Tahoe based cameras have given firefighters the intel needed to stop more than 150 fires in the Tahoe Basin in just a few years!