VIDEO: There are now more eyes on the community and its natural resources, touted as a new era of wildfire resilience across Hawaii. The state’s largest private landowner is trying to keep wildfires at bay using artificial intelligence starting in East Honolulu.
Matthew Glei still remembers the 2010 wildfire on the Fourth of July that hit too close to his home in Kalama Valley. “I got a call saying the mountain behind your house is on fire,” Glei said. “And there was a big fire hitting right up the valley. And it turned out was 80 acres, which is a lot here and it went up the mountain and blew toward the peak.”
It’s a scene the state’s largest private landowner hopes to prevent. Kamehameha Schools is installing AI fire detection systems in seven high-risk areas, including one in Kalama Valley. Kamehameha completed work on its first 360-degree camera on the lawn fronting the Kalama Village Shopping Center.
