AI system
- System
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AI smoke-detection camera installed for Arizona Public Service (AP lists APS among Pano AI's customers; the Diamond Fire camera's maker is not stated outright)
- Model
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Not assessed
- Release
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Not assessed
- Application developer
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Pano AI, by implication of AP's customer list; not stated for this camera - Role
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Not assessed
- Configuration
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Not assessed
- Inputs and outputs
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Not assessed
- Autonomy
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Not assessed
- Workflow
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An AI smoke-detection camera network installed for a utility covering national-forest land near Flagstaff. Human review of the AI detection, then notification to the utility and fire agencies. AP says human intervention keeps false positives low. Crews able to reach a small fire on a March afternoon within about 80 minutes of the first report.
- Human oversight
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Not assessed
- Relation to AI
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AP reports that the camera's AI detected something resembling smoke and spotted early signs of the fire. It does not say whether the alert was the first report or what the fire agencies did with it. The Daily Sun's timeline does not mention the camera: first report, 7 acres by 3:16 p.m., progress stopped 3:37 p.m., contained 6:09 p.m. The attribution to AI rests on one news report, and the camera's maker is implied rather than stated. No official record naming the camera was found.
- AI contribution
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AP reports that the camera's AI detected something resembling smoke and spotted early signs of the fire. It does not say whether the alert was the first report or what the fire agencies did with it. The Daily Sun's timeline does not mention the camera: first report, 7 acres by 3:16 p.m., progress stopped 3:37 p.m., contained 6:09 p.m. The attribution to AI rests on one news report, and the camera's maker is implied rather than stated. No official record naming the camera was found.
Benefits
- Outcome identifiers
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Not assessed
- Benefit
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contained it before it grew past 7 acres (2.8 hectares)
- Category
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Reduced Risk
- Status
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Not assessed
- Beneficiary groups
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Society. Organizations.
- Beneficiaries
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Not assessed
- Reach
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Not assessed
- Distribution and access
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Not assessed
- Duration
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Not assessed
- Expected?
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Yes
- Costs and harms
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Not assessed
Measurement
- Studies
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Not assessed
- Study design
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Not assessed
- Measurement
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Not assessed
- Setting and sample
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Not assessed
- Measures
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contained it before it grew past 7 acres (2.8 hectares)
- Comparison
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Assumed alternative: the first 911 call reporting a fire
- Results
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Assumed comparison. Reference: the first 911 call. Result: about 45 minutes faster on average than the first 911 call.
- Additional value from AI
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Not assessed
- Limitations
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Not assessed
- Denominators
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Not assessed
- Materials for replication
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Not assessed
Money
- Kind of value
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Not assessed
- Amount
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Not assessed
- Currency and prices
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Not assessed
- Period and unit
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Not assessed
- Realization
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Not assessed
- Recipients and payers
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Not assessed
- Gross or net
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Not assessed
- Included costs
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Not assessed
- Comparison
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Not assessed
- Method
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Not assessed
- Return and payback
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Not assessed
People and places
- Participants
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Developer:
Pano AI, by implication of AP's customer list; not stated for this camera. Operator: Arizona Public Service. - Jurisdictions
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Benefit: Coconino National Forest near Flagstaff, Arizona,
United States. Developer: United States. Operator: United States. - Ownership and control
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Not assessed
- Dependencies
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Not assessed
- Cross-border connections
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Not assessed
- Geopolitical implications
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Not assessed
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The camera has line of sight to the ignition and the detection reaches a responding agency before the fire grows. Fire weather and fuels that allow containment at a few acres. The sources give no conditions for this fire.
- Replication attempts
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3 follow-up entries. Benefit recurred: 2. Outcome unresolved: 1.
- Later findings
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4 May 2026. Seven weeks after the fire, AP reported that APS had nearly 40 active AI smoke-detection cameras and planned to have 71 by the end of summer 2026.
- Availability
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Not assessed
- Institutional decision
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Not assessed
- Grounds
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Not assessed
- Action and result
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Not assessed
- Success criterion
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Not assessed
Evidence
- Source numbers
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AIBD-0312-source-0001–0004
- Citations
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Numbered references below.
- Language
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Not assessed
- Source relationships
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Independent
- Original evidence
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Not assessed
- Access and versions
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Not assessed
- Supported findings
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Not assessed
- Evidence links
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Not assessed
- Evidence strength
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Not assessed
- Missing evidence
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Not assessed
Grades
- Assessed benefits
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Society. Organizations.
- Depth
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Society: 2. Organizations: Not assessed.
- Reasons
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Society: A fire near Flagstaff was held to 7 acres, with forward progress stopped about 80 minutes after the first report, per the Daily Sun. AP, in a single report, attributes early detection to the APS camera. Organizations: APS's own gain for this fire is not documented, whether protection of its lines or earlier dispatch. Its meteorologist gives only an average 45-minute lead over 911 calls across fires.
- Observed or intended
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Not assessed
- Rubric
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Not assessed
- Assessor and date
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Not assessed
- Alternative assessments
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Not assessed
- Fill
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Independently reported
Entry details
- Kind
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Not assessed
- Related entries
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Not assessed
- Field
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Wildfire detection and response. Electric utility wildfire mitigation.
- Purpose
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Built to detect smoke on camera feeds and notify the utility and fire agencies earlier than 911 calls. This detection was that purpose.
- Dates
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Date basis unassessed: 2026 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.
- Stage
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Not assessed
- Version
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SHA-256: c81aed4312d5…
References
- Other identifiers
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Not assessed
- Category mappings
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Not assessed
- Brief
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Not assessed
- Revisions
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6 revisions. Latest: 21 October 2026.
Sources
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News report Independent author
Pineda D, Peterson B (2026). States across the wildfire-prone Western US are using AI for early detection. Associated Press, 4 May 2026.
One of dozens of AI cameras installed for the utility Arizona Public Service had spotted early signs of what came to be known as the Diamond Fire.
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News report Independent author
Pineda D, Peterson B (2026). The same AP report as republished by KPBS, 5 May 2026.
Firefighters raced to the scene and contained the blaze before it grew past 7 acres (2.8 hectares).
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News report Independent author
Cindy Kobold, an Arizona Public Service meteorologist, said the technology notifies them about 45 minutes faster on average than the first 911 call.
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News report Independent author
Daily Sun staff (2026). Seven-acre fire fully contained south of Flagstaff on Thursday afternoon. Arizona Daily Sun, 26 March 2026 (the article does not mention a camera).
Forward progress on the fire was stopped at 3:37 p.m., about 80 minutes after the first report of the fire, and reached 100% containment at 6:09 p.m.