Latest Kern County, California and US & world news from 23ABC in Bakersfield, Calif.
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00:00 Kimberly Schiest is retired from the US Forest Service
00:02 and LA County Fire Department.
00:04 So she understands the need to be quick and efficient
00:07 when responding to emergencies.
00:09 As a resident of Sand Canyon in Tachbee,
00:12 she said that she's noticed how responsive
00:14 Kern County Fire has been during recent events,
00:17 and they say it's all thanks to new technology.
00:20 - Can you imagine what we could have done
00:22 with this in the day?
00:24 - Kern County Fire Department unveiling new tools
00:26 that will assist them in times of emergency.
00:29 - When something happens, every second counts.
00:31 - The new tools include a patchwork
00:33 of over a thousand cameras across California
00:35 that can monitor natural disasters,
00:37 such as wildfires and when they start.
00:39 Using artificial intelligence,
00:41 the AI can detect and alert emergency crews to anomalies
00:45 even before they get a 911 call.
00:47 - There was a fire in McKittrick
00:48 where it was held to under an acre
00:50 with no 911 calls received on it.
00:52 There was a fire in the Grapevine area.
00:54 That one was held to under five acres
00:56 with no 911 calls on it.
00:57 - Recently, the department utilized their new camera system
00:59 to respond to two fires, the Sheep and Trotter fires,
01:03 that broke out on August 14th near Tachbee.
01:05 Crews able to contain the Trotter fire at 40 acres
01:09 and the Sheep fire at one acre.
01:11 - They were out there,
01:12 and those choppers were on top of the other fire
01:15 that was over on the other side of Bear Valley.
01:17 I mean, that doused that thing, and bam, it's done.
01:20 That's the way you wanna fight fire, not let it go.
01:23 - The other tool KCFD is now using
01:25 is called Genesis Protect,
01:26 which they were able to utilize
01:28 during Tropical Storm Hillary
01:29 to alert residents in Kern County
01:31 to evacuations or warnings.
01:33 The system separates locations into zones,
01:36 therefore streamlining alerts.
01:38 - They need to memorize that zone name
01:40 because it's much easier to respond
01:43 if you've heard your zone, you could take action.
01:46 - Sheets comparing the new technology
01:48 to the alert and monitoring systems she remembers
01:51 during her time in the Forest Service.
01:53 Now she's amazed to see how far alert systems have come.
01:56 - So I think this saves a lot of lives.
01:58 - And to learn more about the program or download the app,
02:03 you can find a link on our website, turnto23.com.
02:06 In Tashpee, I'm Veronica Morley, 23 ABC News, connecting you.