Home / Disasters and Accidents / Ring's Fire Watch Fights Flames with Community Data
Ring's Fire Watch Fights Flames with Community Data
3 Feb
Summary
- Fire Watch feature shares real-time info with first responders.
- Ring founder's home destroyed, inspiring the new safety tool.
- AI detects embers, smoke, and fire location to help extinguish fires faster.
Ring has introduced Fire Watch, a new safety feature within its Neighbors app aimed at enhancing community and first responder capabilities during active fire events. This initiative, a collaboration with the nonprofit Watch Duty, allows users to voluntarily contribute real-time, on-the-ground information during emergencies.
Inspired by the devastating fires that impacted the Pacific Palisades, California, Ring's founder and CEO, Jamie Siminoff, developed the feature. His own home was destroyed in the fires, a personal experience that fueled his desire to invent a tool to mitigate such disasters.
Siminoff highlighted the "fog of war and information" during past fires, emphasizing the difficulty in obtaining up-to-the-minute data. Fire Watch aims to bridge this gap by using artificial intelligence to detect embers, smoke, and fire spread, enabling quicker responses to emerging spot fires.
The feature sends alerts to users during a fire, asking them to opt-in. If they agree, they help build an AI-powered map that tracks the fire's progression. Siminoff believes that with timely and accurate information, resources could be deployed more efficiently, potentially saving structures and lives.
