Napa County might use a high-tech system to try to detect fires soon after ignition, with the hope an early warning gives firefighters the jump they need to prevent raging, massive wildfires.
Ten or so poles topped with the artificial intelligence-based IQ FireWatch fire-sensing technology could provide coverage for 94% to 97% of the county, county officials said. The system can detect heat disturbance from fires even before smoke is visible.
The concept is that itâs about as early detection as you can get,â county Public Works Director Steven Lederer said.
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Napa Countyâs largest unincorporated community of Angwin in the mountains east of St. Helena might â just might â get a second wildfire escape route to Napa Valley, if volunteer labor helps create a stopgap solution.
It wasnât the ideal outcome that some residents sought, but itâs what the county was willing to offer amid various factors.
Angwin is a forested community of about 3,000 that includes Pacific Union College. With a wildfire coming from the east, residents would evacuate to the west into Napa Valley on Deer Park Road.
In a letter to the county, resident Ken Stanton described a nightmare scenario. He can envision traffic on that only escape route to the west coming to a standstill because of an accident, fallen tree or other mishap as a fire bears down.