“Flanders will automatically monitor Brabant and we are happy to do that for free.” The Belgian mayor Lukas Jacobs cannot suppress a smile when he tells about the new ‘smart camera’ in the fire tower on the Kalmthoutse Heide. At forty meters height, this camera will soon look independently of smoking plumes in Belgian and Dutch nature.
From the observation post just across border at Putte, the television tower in Roosendaal is clearly visible. In a southerly direction, the contours of the port of Antwerp immediately catch the eye. The fire tower just across the border at Putte has been staffed for many years by volunteers who search for the wide environment for possible hot spots.
From next month they will receive help from a camera in the antenna on top of the fire tower. The system works with artificial intelligence (AI). As soon as the camera observes a suspicious plume of smoke in a radius of twenty kilometers, a report goes to the fire brigade.
“With this equipment we can keep the Kalmthoutse Heide border park even sharper. In a natural fire, acting is essential to fight the fire,” said Mayor Jacobs.
Spring is fire hazard
According to him, the spring is a fire -hazardous period: in April and May the common leg hood is still very dry and therefore very flammable. In the summer they turn green through the juice flows and decreases the fire risk. “
In order to distinguish between suspect and unexpected plumes of smoke, special AI software must ensure that the camera makes itself ‘smarter’. “Of course it is not intended that the camera releases alarms for clouds of smoke from the industry in the port of Antwerp.”
According to Mayor Jacobs, the smart camera is a first for Flanders and the Netherlands. The project of the Flemish Agency forest and Nature, the fire brigade and the municipality of Kalmthout is financed by the European Union. The AI camera remains a supplement to the eyes of the fire guards that staff the fire tower from early spring.
Lukas Jacobs: “We have been working with our Dutch friends for a long time and, just like nature, the camera will soon have no limits.”