Grassroots nonprofit Mālama Kula installs fire detection cameras in Upper Kula

In an effort to mitigate future wildfire events, two of Maui’s first wildfire detection cameras have recently been deployed in Upper Kula, where 20 homes and 300 acres were lost during last year’s wildfires on Aug. 8.  

The project is sponsored by Mālama Kula, a 501(c)(3) organization that was formed in response to the Kula Fire, and has been actively engaged in community cleanup and support since Aug. 12, 2023. 

The idea to install cameras that cover the Kula burn zone was first conceived by a Kula resident, several months after the fire, to give his neighbors within the Kula burn area some comfort and peace of mind. Every method available for wildfire detection on Maui was examined, and the same method and cameras was chosen that was being used by CalFire in California in the wake of the Paradise fires. 

Independent of any other activity or agency the cameras were acquired on loan and installed by Mālama Kula staff and community members through the use of private donations.

With an ability to scan up to 20 miles, the cameras are operated by AlertWest—the same California based system that’s currently in use by California’s CALFire, as well those recently deployed by Hawaiian Electric Company in areas outside Upper Kula. 

The cameras’ sight lines overlap, so that distance to the fire can be precisely determined, and all output of the scanning cameras is sent to an AI developed by Digitalpath in Chico, California.

The AI distinguishes fire smoke from the background and other atmospheric conditions, and should the AI “think” it’s found a fire, a message and control of the reporting camera is sent to a 24/7 command center, where a professional smoke spotter determines the validity. If the smoke spotter determines that it is indeed a fire, a message and control of the camera is sent to Maui Fire Department.

Links to both cameras covering the Kula burn zone can be found on Mālama Kula website, and Maui Fire Department is currently sent alerts whenever smoke is detected.  

Unlike sensors that are reactively triggered when smoke drifts by the sensor, the AI technology that’s utilized in these cameras is proactively scanning and searching for smoke. As the California system gets upgrades to the core AI, so, too will the cameras on Maui. 

“We were extremely fortunate in Kula,” said Kyle Ellison, Executive Director for Mālama Kula, who nearly lost his own home to the fire, and was displaced for a period of five months, “to not have experienced any loss of life in the fire on Aug. 8. That said, had this fire started at 3 a.m., rather than in the middle of the day, the chances of fatalities increase exponentially, so the ability to have alerts in the middle of the night, in events where minutes matter, is a huge help not only for Kula, but for all island communities that lie within this view plane.”

This working demo system is on loan from AlertWest for a period of six months, and a fundraising effort is currently underway to secure the funding for permanent deployment and possible program expansion. Interested participants, donors, or residents are encouraged to reach out at malamakula@gmail.com.