站在加利福尼亚州抗击野火前线的是41岁的科尔比·尼科尔森（Colby Nicholson）和另外三名身穿“加州警戒”（Alert California）工作服的流动“麦克吉弗”（MacGyvers）。
Perched at the front line of California’s fight against wildfires is a 41-year-old named Colby Nicholson and three other roaming MacGyvers in “Alert California” work shirts.
在这温暖的六月早晨，他们站在纳帕谷葡萄园和小镇上方1500英尺的悬崖上。过去十年里，该地区曾多次遭遇几场大规模野火的肆虐。
On this warm June morning, they were on a cliff 1,500 feet above the vineyards and small towns of Napa Valley. Several major fires had ripped through this area in the past decade.
尼科尔森先生和其他人俯视着他们靴子的脚趾。他们指向一条蜿蜒的死胡同道路，这条道路连接着房屋和陡峭的车道，位于名为苏打峡谷（Soda Canyon）的细长、多石的峡谷中，该峡谷绵延数英里。这就是当地消防官员想要观察的盲点。“就放这里吧，”尼科尔森先生说。
Mr. Nicholson and the others peered past the toes of their boots. They pointed toward a winding, dead-end road connecting houses and steep driveways in a scrubby, miles-long chasm called Soda Canyon. That was the blind spot that local fire officials wanted to see. “Let’s put it here,” Mr. Nicholson said.
到当天结束时，他们已经架起一个12英尺高的三脚架，上面装有两个安装在防护罩内的摄像头，由太阳能电池板和电池组供电。
By day’s end, there was a 12-foot tripod holding two cameras inside protective globes, powered by solar panels and battery packs.
这些摄像头通过卫星Wi-Fi相连，并加入了一个正在扩大的网络 — — 该网络如今拥有近1300个远程、不眨眼的“眼睛”，分布在加利福尼亚州最易发生野火的地区。这些就是当今的火灾瞭望员 — — 远程、高科技摄像头，安装在通信塔、旧瞭望塔或专门建造的三脚架上，位于制高点。加州警戒的观察点已经成为消防员的重要工具，并在应急报道中无处不在。尼科尔森先生和他的团队正是那些负责安装摄像头并确保其正常运行的人，这样其他人才能看到火情。
The cameras were connected by satellite Wi-Fi and joined a growing network of nearly 1,300 remote, unblinking eyes on the most fire-prone landscapes of California These are the fire spotters of today — remote, high-tech cameras attached to communication towers, old lookouts or purpose-built tripods on high vantage points. Alert California’s viewpoints have become a vital tool for firefighters and a ubiquitous presence in emergency coverage. Mr. Nicholson and his crew are the ones who put cameras in place and keep them running, so that everyone else can see.
利用人工智能抗击野火的团队 我们的记者约翰·布兰奇（John Branch）加入了一支在内华达山脉安装摄像头以检测野火的团队。人工智能被用来筛选来自该网络的图像，帮助消防员识别并及时应对野火的早期迹象。
The Crews Harnessing A.I. to Fight Wildfires Our reporter, John Branch, joined a team installing cameras in the Sierra Nevada for detecting wildfires. Artificial intelligence is used to sift through images from the network, helping firefighters identify and respond to early to signs of wildfires.
广角监控摄像头 — — 从高速公路交通摄像头到滑雪区网络摄像头 — — 并非新事物；加州警戒的起源可以追溯到25年前。但如今，这些系统融入了最新技术，并被部署到我们最偏远的地区，它们正日益成为当今日益严重灾难中最清晰的“眼睛”。
Wide-view surveillance cameras, from highway traffic cams to ski-area webcams, are not new; Alert California’s origins go back 25 years. But now, injected with the latest technology and placed in our most remote locations, these systems are increasingly the clearest eyes on today’s worsening disasters.
自2023年以来，人工智能能够即时扫描加州警报摄像头画面，在大多数情况下，它能在接到911报警电话之前发现野火。随后，官员们利用这些摄像头画面监测火情，协调现场救援团队。任何人都可以在加州警报网站上查看实时画面，而截图和延时摄影素材则有助于丰富火灾事件页面。
Since 2023, artificial intelligence has instantly scoured Alert California camera footage, spotting wildfires before a 911 call is received in most cases. Officials then use the camera feeds to monitor the fires, coordinating teams at the scene. Real-time views are available to anyone on the Alert California website and screen grabs and time-lapse footage help fuel fire incident pages and