Residents in San Luis Obispo's Terrace Hill neighborhood say they heard sirens before some even noticed nearby vegetation was up in flames during a grass fire on Thursday morning.
The fire broke out during a week of high temperatures and dry vegetation, sending firefighters scrambling to the hillside while those who live nearby turned to an expanding array of technology to get facts quickly.
Hal Webber, a Terrace Hill resident, captured phone video from his property as the grass fire crept closer and closer to his home.
The fire broke out around 9 a.m. on Thursday, July 16. According to the fire department, city rangers were conducting vegetation management work at the Terrace Hill Open Space when their equipment sparked and ignited the brush. They reportedly called 911 and tried to put out the flames with fire extinguishers and hand tools before firefighters arrived.
Crews quickly responded, and about 45 minutes later, the fire was contained to about three acres.
Some community members living in the area were told to shelter in place temporarily during the fire.
"Well, I was upstairs in my office, and there was a frantic knock on the door," Webber said.
A knock at the door was not the only alert Webber received.
"I actually got an alert from Ring, my doorbell camera; I didn't know they were looking out for me!" Webber said.
As firefighters worked to contain the blaze, Webber watched crews run up the hill carrying hoses.
Webber had nothing but praise for the firefighters who responded.
"I have to say they're very fit, and I'm so glad they're young, because they were just running up the hill carrying these hoses; it would have killed me," Webber said.
At the base of the hill, Joan Marett was on duty as a volunteer at the French Hospital gift shop when her Watch Duty app began buzzing with alerts.
"I happened to be at French and when I pulled it up, holy cow, it was right on the hill behind us," Marett said.
The 85-year-old said the app was essential to knowing what was happening.
"I wouldn't have even known about it without this wonderful app called Watch Duty," Marett said.
Marett's interest in fire goes well beyond tracking apps. She spent more than a decade working in wildland fire management.
"I worked 12 years working on wildland fire management but went out on each of the fires," Marett said.
Her experience gave her confidence that crews would get the fire under control quickly, and they did. After containing the blaze, firefighters hiked back up the hill behind the Webber house to take a lunch break and monitor for hot spots.
Beyond apps like Watch Duty and Ring, the University of California San Diego manages 1,200 cameras in partnership with CAL FIRE that can also monitor for fires and flare-ups through a program known as Alert California.
The technology includes blue hot spot detection and AI tools that provide data through infrared technology and hyperspectral cameras, going far beyond what the human eye can detect, including water absorption spectrums - LINK HERE to ALERT CALIFORNIA TECHNOLOGY.
There were no injuries or property damage. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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