AFCD's improved monitoring system AI replaces the human eye wildfire control center as a ``brain'' to dispatch troops

A single spark can start a prairie fire. The Fisheries and Conservation Department relies on its staff to detect wildfires 24 hours a day at the wildfire observation deck. If the public finds out, a phone call can help speed up the dispatch of personnel to the scene to fight the fire. It also relies on the "brains" of the fire fighting team. -The wildfire control center deployed troops in the back.

In order to improve the efficiency of monitoring, the AFCD’s hillfire monitoring camera at the Tian Fu Tsai Hillfire Observatory in Tai Lam Country Park has added video analysis and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, hoping to further improve the accuracy of monitoring.

▼In April 2020, the tree planting area burned down after the wild fire in Tai Lam Country Park ▼

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Entering the hill fire season, the hill fire control center started to operate 24 hours a day. Two staff members were responsible for liaising and dispatching firefighting teams to the scene for disaster relief. It was Zhou Youcheng, the fire prevention officer of the AFCD, who looked at the large map on the wall. , Mobilize manpower in various districts.

The fire extinguishing team is the "first responder" to a hill fire in a country park. They arrived at the scene to confirm the location. Once the fire spreads rapidly, the fire department will be upgraded to take over. Water bombs extinguish the fire.

He confessed that Ching Ming Festival and Double Ninth Festival are the most troublesome holidays, and many mountain fires are likely to be caused by the negligence of the worshippers.

The area covered by wildfires last year was 47.7 Victoria Parks

According to the information of the Fisheries and Conservation Department, there were 25 hill fires in country parks last year, affecting 906 hectares, which is equivalent to 47.7 Victoria Parks, which is wider than the total affected area from 2017 to 2019. There were 9,075 trees burned, compared with More than twice as many in 2019.

According to the Country Parks and Special Areas Regulations and the Forestry and Suburbs Ordinance, it is illegal to start or use fires at non-designated barbecue sites or designated camping sites in country parks, and to leave fires behind. There have been few successful prosecutions in the past. However, it reached a record high under the epidemic, reaching 63 cases from last year to September this year.

During the hill fire season, the fire prevention officer of the AFCD, Zhou Youcheng, used the large map on the wall to mobilize the fire-fighting teams in various districts.

(Photo by He Jiada)

It takes 20 to 30 years for trees to become a forest

It is like finding a needle in a haystack in the expansive country park.

In the forest area in recent years, firefighters have found the "corpse" of Kong Mingdeng, which is a rare example of a suspected "weapons."

The Director of Country Parks (Protection Team) of the Fisheries and Conservation Department Li Yingming explained that during the investigation, only clues could be found from the location of the fire. Near the grave area may be related to worship, and the mountain top suddenly caught fire or was caused by tourists.

Li explained that large-scale fire scenes mostly involve grassland or bushes. Once burned, the fire spreads quickly. Just like Jigongling in Lincun Country Park, it is empty and dominated by grass. When it is burned, it "goes a lot faster and a lot wider." .

Both planting and saving trees, he said helplessly, "If a place is constantly burned and the grassland is maintained for a long time, the saplings will have no chance to grow and become a forest. On the contrary, the forest is relatively humid, so it is easy to burn, but it does not mean serious. It takes two to 30 years for trees to grow into a forest. Burning is a great loss to us."

The green forest burns and the planters want to cry without tears

Last year, the severe wildfire in Tai Lam Country Park is still vivid. It turned from bareness to green hills. Li Yingming described it as the painstaking effort of a generation. He sighed that colleagues who were involved in planting trees wanted to cry without tears. "Weeding and fertilizing. It slowly grows into a forest, and (now) it all returns to zero, and it has to be passed from the beginning."

According to the information, Tai Lam Country Park has become the hardest hit area of ​​mountain fires in recent years. From 2016 to September this year, a total of 29 mountain fires were recorded, 541 hectares of land and 10,935 trees were burned. The Lin Tsuen Country Park burned the largest area, reaching 976 hectares.

In the early years, the bare hills turned into green hills. Li Yingming believes that it is the painstaking effort of a generation, and it should be carefully protected after the forest is established.

(Photo by He Jiada)

▼Jigongling Mountain burned for two days and two nights on the eve of Double Ninth Festival in 2020▼

The only wildfire monitoring camera in Hong Kong adds AI to increase accuracy

Monitoring wildfires, relying on the eyes of the staff at the hillfire observation deck and patrolling in country parks, also rely on the citizens to report with their mobile phones, but not everyone who reports the wildfires may clearly indicate the exact location of the wildfire. In recent years, the option of sending photos to WhatsApp has been added. The control center is easier to grasp the location.

In addition to relying on people, but also on machines.

Since 2017, the Fisheries and Conservation Department has tried to install hillfire monitoring cameras at the Tian Fu Tsai Hill Fire Observatory in Tai Lam Country Park, using thermal imaging technology to detect hill fires within a radius of 5 kilometers. In the past three years, 12 cases have been successfully detected.

However, factors such as weather and terrain may affect its accuracy. Therefore, the Fisheries and Conservation Department has cooperated with the logistics and supply chain multi-technology research and development center to study video analysis machines and AI technology to improve the accuracy of the existing wildfire monitoring system.

The Department has already used the data collected by the Palxiang Mountain Fire Station in July this year to apply the improved AI monitoring model to the Tianfuzi Mountain Fire Observatory Monitoring System, and will continue to collect data for performance analysis.

Since 2017, the AFCD has been testing the application of the "hill fire monitoring system" at the Tian Fu Tsai Hill Fire Observatory in Tai Lam Country Park.

(Provided by Fisheries and Conservation Department)

Li Yingming said with a smile, "My colleagues used to be AIs. Colleagues from the mountain fire observatory have to stare at the surrounding smoke and can quickly report that there may be a mountain fire in a certain location. Today, we can use machine learning to help us in disguise. Repeat this action. When there is a warning signal, watch first, and then let people make judgments." New technology allows the firefighting team to guard the countryside with more eyes.

Whether it is fighting the fire on the front line or directing from behind, every link is essential to protect the precious country parks.

(Photo by He Jiada)

Mountain fires and off-road motorcycles destroyed Jigongling 17 Victoria Park vegetation a year. Wilderness scarred the country park. The first season of wildfires destroyed 15 Victoria Park trees and 4,640 trees were devastated. The Fire Services Department and 9 government departments exercised wildfires to save citizens. Do not leave any kind of fire when sweeping tombs on Chung Yeung Festival [Tuen Mun Hill Fire.

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