00:00They're panoramic views, but Catherine Clarke isn't here for the scenery.
00:07She's watching for smoke.
00:13She'll spend up to 10 hours a day in this small box on stilts, one of 25 overlooking
00:19forests across the state.
00:21You'd be surprised at how much energy you burn because you're on alert.
00:2545,000 hectares of pine plantations in the region were destroyed in the Black Summer
00:30bushfires.
00:31The damage can be catastrophic to the forest and the people and the industries that rely
00:37on the forest.
00:3880% has now been replanted and is being protected by new technology.
00:43Greater investment in remote sensing tech was recommended by the NSW Black Summer Inquiry.
00:50Now 36 cameras have been installed in the state's south using artificial intelligence
00:56to look for smoke and fire.
00:58For us to have that early detection, it enables us to identify the severity of the fire, how
01:03quickly it's growing in size.
01:06Already this season cameras have spotted fires in the forests and on farmland.
01:11That camera picked up that fire within a couple of minutes and it was responded to and put
01:16out within two hours.
01:17The cameras aren't replacing people, but they operate 24-7 and have been valuable in spotting
01:23fires early in the morning and of an evening when the towers are unmanned.
01:29I don't think AI's caught up with the natural eye and I do believe the natural eye is better,
01:35but it is great for confirmation and sometimes they beat us too.
01:40Old ways and new, on guide together.
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