UEN Wins Bid to Build the Utah Wildfire Camera Network

In September, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) awarded the Utah Education Network (UEN) a five-year grant totaling $998,831 to implement and support a wildfire camera network across Utah. This award will help us fill a major gap in fire protection in the West.

“The Utah Wildfire Camera Network will support the BLM, state and local first responders and Utah communities by enhancing visibility and expediting wildfire detection and reporting in rural areas—where delays are more common and every moment counts,” said UEN’s Jeff Egly, one of the principal investigators on the project.

UEN will collaborate closely with the Utah Communications Authority (UCA) and the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT). We will leverage strategic mountaintop locations to deploy new cameras and integrate existing infrastructure, thereby enhancing the network’s capabilities.

A key component of the project involves UEN’s partnership with the University of Utah, which will manage and retain the wildfire camera data to support ongoing wildfire research. This research encompasses wildlife ecology, aridification, water use, and more, and will benefit higher education institutions throughout the region.

UEN will work with ALERTWest, a platform that “provides enhanced situational awareness for first responders, utility providers, and the public to manage wildfires and other disasters.” ALERTWest will provide camera access and control, live monitoring and visibility through its dashboard to the BLM and other federal, state and local first responders, as well as view access for the broader community.