When it’s bushfire season, there’s a drought and dams are low, knowing where there’s water to fight fires is absolutely critical.
Pairtree recently collaborated with the Esperance Zone Innovation (EZI) Group, a grower group from WA’s southeast coast, to solve this problem for local firefighters and farmers.
The mission of EZI Group is to “champion technological advancements that bring tangible benefits to the community”. What better way to do that than to make sure firefighters know where the water is?
Local broadacre farmer, Tyson Redding, is Deputy Captain of the Scaddan Bushfire Brigade in the mid Esperance zone:
“With the droughts and dry conditions we’ve been having, a lot of the dams are dry so that only leaves what water is in tanks for firefighting, so it’s important to have an understanding of what water is in the area when we have fire events,” said Tyson.
The EZI group created a bushfire network and distributed remote digital water tank sensors to members across the region. Tyson has one of the sensors on his farm.
“Normally, only the farmer can see the water level data from their own tank, but now thanks to Pairtree, those in control of allocating resources during a fire – the state and local fire controllers – can see where the water is too.”
Pairtree integrates the data from different sensors on different farms and presents the information on a map, that shows the water level of each tank and its location, so controllers know exactly where to send trucks and smaller units to fill up.
“As a farmer and a firefighter, it’s a great idea. We’re pretty into tech and trying new things all the time. The EZI group is always looking for new technology that’s relevant to farmers in our region. Certainly this one makes a lot of sense for us.”
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