The UBC Okanagan’s research program to monitor wildfires with cameras just got a $65,000 donation.

The donation came from the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan Similkameen, Community Foundation North Okanagan, Central Okanagan Foundation and Shuswap Community Foundation, according to a press release from the foundation’s issued today, Sept. 10.

The money is going to help researchers work on new technology to monitor and respond to wildfires more efficiently with a network of cameras around the backcountry.

“We were impressed by the practical, community-focused nature of the wildfire research at UBCO,” CEO of the Central Okanagan Foundation Kristine Bugayong said in the release. “It’s not just about studying wildfire, it’s about equipping communities with tools they can use to stay safe.”

Research into this technology has been ongoing. Last year, the provincial government ran a trial to put cameras in five locations around the province.

In June, the provincial government partnered with the university to set up more cameras.

“The provincial camera network will serve as a vital public-safety platform, helping to build safe and resilient communities, while enhancing wildfire and emergency management across British Columbia,” lead researcher Mathieu Bourbonnais with UBCO’s Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science said in June.

Last year, Vernon Fire Rescue Services and SenseNet put cameras and sensors with AI analysis in the Predator Ridge, Eastside Road, Tronson Road and Foothills areas as an early warning system.

Vernon’s fire chief David Lind said last summer that it had been a success.

“It’s an exciting technology in that it’s really applying almost that fire alarm system that we see in large buildings, where you’ve got every section of the building covered by some type of a monitor feeding back into a system that provides early notification to everyone … and almost taking that and applying it in an outdoors setting,” Lind said.

The additional funding is going to help move the technology forward.

“By partnering with our community foundation colleagues in the Central and North Okanagan and Shuswap on this investment, we want to collectively bring greater awareness to our new reality of living with wildfire,” CEO of the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan Similkameen Aaron McRann said in the release. “We all believe that by working together, we can have a greater positive impact on the issue.”