Artificial Intelligence and Drones Enter Forest Fire Zones! France Uses AI Detection Systems to Give Firefighters a Golden 15 Minutes

Raging flames, firefighters battling the blaze, and aircraft continuously dropping massive amounts of water on the fire—this scene is familiar to many. Recently, wildfires have erupted in France, Spain, and Portugal, sweeping through forests and rural areas, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes. In France alone, four men have died fighting the fires, and 150 others have been injured.

Yet why do we still primarily rely on manpower and aircraft that have been in service for over 30 years? If drones can replace soldiers on the battlefield in Ukraine, why can't they replace firefighters?

Guillaume Millet, who has 24 years of firefighting experience, now serves as head of the Gironde department for the CFDT union’s Fire and Rescue Services branch—the region hardest hit by wildfires this summer.

He says that while firefighting methods have changed little over the years, wildfire detection technology has undergone significant transformation. "The biggest change, especially in our department, is the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted cameras to monitor forests and detect fire outbreaks," Millet explains.

"In Gironde, cameras have replaced human lookouts who used to staff watchtowers in every town during summer. Many of those lookouts were students," he adds.

Since switching to the new system, false alarms have dropped noticeably. "AI-assisted cameras can almost perfectly distinguish smoke from dust kicked up by tractors in fields."

The detection range of these cameras is also astonishing—they can spot fires as far as 20 kilometers away.

In Gironde, the system was installed by a company called Midgard. Elsewhere in France, most regions use technology developed by another French startup, FireTracking.

Jean-Simon Chaudier, CEO of FireTracking, explains: "Once a fire is detected, firefighters immediately receive an alert on their smartphones. When they open the app, they can view live footage captured by the camera with 40x zoom."

"Next to the video feed, a map displays the exact location of the fire, nearby buildings, and predictions of how the fire will spread each minute based on weather, humidity, and other factors," he continues.

Every single minute counts.

Chaudier notes: "Over the past 10 days, we’ve received feedback from firefighters indicating that AI detected fires seven times earlier than the first emergency call—on average, 15 minutes sooner. If you can give firefighters 15 extra minutes, that could mean the difference between a full-scale disaster and a small fire confined to two or three hectares."

"One minute after ignition, a glass of water might be enough to extinguish it. After two minutes, you’ll need a tank. By three minutes, you’ll need a Canadair."

He refers to the amphibious firefighting aircraft manufactured by Canadian aerospace firm Canadair, capable of scooping water from rivers, lakes, and oceans and dropping it on wildfires. It remains a key asset for France and many countries worldwide in combating forest fires.

Currently, FireTracking’s cameras monitor approximately one million hectares of land, mostly in France.

What does such a system cost? Chaudier says that in the French department of Indre-et-Loire, the company installed 11 fire detection stations.

"It cost 1.2 million euros (1.4 million USD; 9.37 million CNY; 44.73 million TWD) to cover the entire 6,000 square kilometer area."

The region is primarily agricultural. Chaudier emphasizes that crop fires are a costly and serious problem. In this single department alone, around 300 agricultural fires occur annually.

In the coming years, AI-based fire detection technology is expected to improve further. For example, the French Civil Protection Service is running a project called Condor, testing solar-powered drones for continuous forest patrols.

These drones are equipped with electro-optical cameras and AI systems, enabling round-the-clock forest monitoring.

Other projects are exploring sensors placed among trees. Spain’s SenForFire initiative, for instance, aims to detect gases released by plants before ignition, issuing warnings even before flames appear.

Can drones actively participate in firefighting? Guillaume Millet says France has already begun testing drones for sea rescues, such as delivering life rings and survival gear.

But when it comes to firefighting, the technology isn’t yet advanced enough for practical application.

"In reality, technology still plays a very limited role," he says.

"It helps us detect fires, but it’s not technology that puts out the flames—it’s people dragging hoses into the forest and spraying water directly onto the fire."

Even aircraft cannot replace ground crews, he stresses. "A Canadair can drop 6,000 liters of water on a wildfire at once, weakening the fire’s intensity. But afterward, ground firefighters are still needed to finish the job started by the Canadair."

The French public is also growing accustomed to seeing Dash aircraft, which spray retardant—a powdery orange ammonium phosphate—in front of the fire line to slow down how quickly vegetation ignites.

However, this too cannot replace the manpower and large-scale water supply provided by ground firefighting teams—at least not yet.

A French startup, Daidelos, is currently raising funds to develop a large gasoline-engine-powered drone capable of carrying heavy loads. If successful, this drone could hover over fire zones and drop 1.2 tons of water at once.

Other companies are developing drones that can deploy special grenades. These grenades explode upon contact with extreme heat, dispersing chemical powder over a wide area.

The powder suppresses flames, lowers temperatures, and interrupts the chemical reactions required for combustion.

Researchers hope to eventually build a fully automated first-response system. In the future, fire detection and drone activation could happen within seconds, extinguishing fires moments after ignition.

However, once a wildfire has fully spread, such technologies become ineffective.

French researchers are also developing another type of drone designed to fly close to active fires. Its purpose isn’t direct firefighting but gathering critical information—such as fire behavior, smoke conditions, sudden weather changes, and structural collapse risks of burning trees or buildings—helping firefighters conduct risk assessments before entering dangerous zones.

Technology already helps firefighters detect fires faster and respond more efficiently. Soon, it may even make firefighting safer. Yet, completely replacing firefighters? Guillaume Millet from Gironde believes that’s impossible.

"Those who actually put out the fires are the firefighters on the ground, dragging hoses and working directly at the scene," he points out. This has been true since the first modern fire brigade was established in the Netherlands in the 1670s—and, in the foreseeable future, it won’t change.