The Edwin Project

About the city. Layton is a suburb of Salt Lake City with a population of 75,106. For many years Salt Lake Valley firefighters have depended largely on residents calling 911 when they spotted smoke. In many instances, these calls were made too late to prevent the rapid spread of fire, especially during dry and windy conditions.

Goal

The aim of the Edwin (Early-Detection Wildfire Imaging Network)  project is to help cities and fire departments automate wildfire detection.

Implementation period. The first beta test of the EDWIN Project has begun in 2018.

Fact

Wildfire poses a severe risk to both life and property in Utah. Utah’s 2020 fire season has seen wildfires more than triple last year’s numbers. According to Utah’s Department of Agriculture and Food, Utah averages 1,300 wildfires which burn 250,000 acres each year.

Solutions

Edwin’s system bases is a network of thermal cameras connected by high-speed fibre-optic connections installed throughout the state of Utah. These cameras, powered by UTOPIA broadband fibre, provide visibility to high-risk areas, especially in the Wasatch Front zone. Utopia fibre has made these channels and their analytics available to fire services and other public safety organizations to help them to keep cities safe. This project would not be possible without fibre optic communication: it allows instantly to move huge amounts of data and notify officials automatically

Each minute of response time reduced by EDWIN is estimated to save between $44,000—$215,000 (including $3,029 in firefighting costs), depending on topography and population density.

Challenges

There’s an enormous amount of data that has to move seamlessly and instantly.

UTOPIA Fiber’s Smart Cities team tracks response times and compares that data to records from previous years to quantify reductions in significant wildfire events.

Team

Smart Cities team at UTOPIA (Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency) Fiber (in conjunction with a Brigham Young University Capstone Project)

Timeline

• EDWIN’s beta test was launched simultaneously in Layton, Murray, and Woodland Hills.
• Cameras caught the early stages of a brush fire in Woodland Hills on July 6.

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