The Tenerife Island Council is set to trial a forest surveillance system at the fire towers of Los Topos, located in the municipality of Vilaflor. This initiative aims to establish an early warning emergency management system for various forms of natural risk within the next two years.
This initiative is a component of the fire simulation and incident management framework, along with the installation of a forest surveillance system (Sivifor). With an investment of 6 million euros, it aims to enhance early detection of forest fires, seismic activity, volcanic threats, hydrological risks, and extreme weather conditions.
Additionally, the Tenerife Council has prioritised the soon-to-be implemented system known as ‘Vertical 1, Forest Fire Risk (SIGE-IF)’. This will initially be piloted at the Los Topos surveillance tower in Vilaflor.
Following the pilot, there are plans to gradually roll out this system to additional fire towers across the island, including those in Arguazo, El Gaitero, Chavao, Picachos, and San Juan.
A telecommunications infrastructure will also be set in place to link the surveillance sites to the corporate network, alongside the establishment of an Island Sensor Network (RedIS) aimed at interconnecting various sensors such as weather stations, soil moisture instruments, and pond water level monitors, among others.
In this context, the governing council awarded a contract on Wednesday to Vexiza SL for the supply of licenses and implementation of the software application for fire simulation and incident management, amounting to 516,703 euros.
The forest surveillance system will utilise a dual camera setup that surveys the area to capture images in both the visible and thermal spectra. This enables the detection of potential smoke columns and heat sources from a distance of up to 25 kilometres from the tower.
According to the Tenerife Council, this system would serve as a crucial early warning mechanism to facilitate swift action in the event of any fire outbreak.
There are also plans for collaboration with IACTEC and Espacio (DRAGO Chamber) to utilise satellite imagery for creating fuel/humidity maps and developing a fire perimeter tool.
