Jackson Hole Fire/EMS has installed two AI cameras to spot fires
JACKSON (WNE) — Jackson Hole Fire/EMS has installed two cameras with artificial intelligence technology to detect wildfires.
One of the cameras is on top of Snow King Mountain, and the other is on top of Rendezvous Mountain at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. The fire department plans to install a third camera in the Moran area but has not yet decided on a final location, said Ray Lane, the department’s deputy fire chief of prevention and support services.
The cameras will help the department spot and identify the location of fires early, Lane said.
Jackson Hole Fire/EMS paid $45,000 to purchase and install the cameras and is set to pay about $40,000 each year to use them once the third camera is installed.
Anyone can see the view from the cameras. Go to AlertWest.org, click “Live Cameras,” and zoom into Jackson Hole; or download the Watch Duty app, and toggle the “Live Wildfire Cameras” layer to “on” to see the view. The cameras are AlertWest cameras.
In the event of a wildfire evacuation, Lane said, community members can check out the situation for themselves.
“It might encourage some people to evacuate because it’s a scary thing to see,” Lane said.
The cameras have a 360-degree view and are elevated high above the valley floor so they have a good view, Lane said. The public feed is updated every 15 seconds.
Artificial intelligence detects smoke and alerts someone at AlertWest’s dispatch center in California, Lane said. A human at the operations center then looks at the feed and confirms if it is, indeed, a wildfire, and not a steam column or something similar. The person can then send an alert to the on-duty chief with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS, who can then check the feed and send resources if necessary, Lane said.
This story was published on Sept. 1, 2026.
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