exci

20/04/2026

How quickly can we detect a wildfire? Different technologies detect different signals. Some rely on heat, others on gases, and some on smoke. The timing of those signals determines how early a fire can be detected. This article explains why smoke is often the first visible sign of a wildfire and how different detection technologies compare in real-world conditions.

SummaryWildfire detection technologies include AI-assisted camera systems, satellites, gas sensor networks, and drones. Each technology detects fires using diff

17/04/2026

Wildfires release carbon fast, often within the first hour. Detecting fires earlier can make a real difference. Smaller fires mean less damage and lower emissions.

This article explains how early detection helps reduce wildfire impact and why timing matters.
- How much difference do minutes make when a fire starts?
- Can wildfire detection be part of a carbon credit strategy?

Wildfires are one of the fastest-growing sources of carbon emissions. This blog explains how quickly emissions build after ignition and why early detection with

14/04/2026

Forest valuation depends on assumptions. Wildfire can break them within minutes. This article explains how wildfire affects asset value, why loss is more than just burned trees, and how early detection supports better outcomes. If you manage forestry, land, or critical infrastructure, this is worth understanding.

Summary:Forest valuation depends on assumptions about growth, risk, and future cash flow. Wildfire disrupts all three. This article explains how forest valuatio

24/03/2026

Yesterday, Christoph (Managing Director) and Julian (Chief Commercial Officer) from exci were invited to present at the 2026 International Wildfire Risk Mitigation Consortium Annual Conference, hosted by Powerlink Queensland.

A big thank you to Stephen Martin from Powerlink and Ben Silverman from Source for the invitation.

The discussion focused on a practical question: how can utilities detect fires earlier and respond faster across large, high-risk areas?

This blog explains what is working, where the limitations are, and why early detection plays a critical role in reducing wildfire risk.

Table of Contents Summary:AI wildfire detection helps utilities reduce operational, financial, and regulatory risk by identifying fires within minutes and

11/03/2026

Fire towers once relied on human watchers scanning the horizon for smoke. Today, cameras and artificial intelligence analyse landscapes continuously. Our latest blog explores how wildfire detection evolved from human observation to AI assisted monitoring, using Sandy Fire Tower No. 5 as a real example. Read the story here:

Summary: Sandy Fire Tower No. 5 shows how wildfire detection evolved from human fire watchers to camera monitoring and now AI assisted smoke analysis. The tower

06/03/2026

The final climb of Sandy Fire Tower happened in 2023. Today, AI helps watch the same forest for the first signs of wildfire smoke. Read the story here.

Artificial intelligence has transformed AI wildfire detection by analysing images for the presence of smoke captured by fire detection cameras across large land

02/03/2026

As forestry expanded and fire risk increased, the limits of human observation became harder to ignore. Queensland’s detection network covered vast and varied terrain. Towers like Sandy stood high, but even height had constraints. This is blog 2 of the series, telling the story how cameras changed fire detection at Sandy Fire Tower No.5, shifting the role of the fire watcher without replacing human judgement.

02/03/2026

When Sandy Fire Tower No. 5 is discussed today, it is often in the context of cameras and modern detection systems. Yet long before satellites, digital maps, or automated alerts, fire detection depended on something far simpler and far more demanding: a person standing alone above the forest. This is the first blog of a series telling the story of Sandy Fire Tower No. 5 near Blackbutt, before cameras and AI, when fire detection relied on human vigilance.

20/02/2026

This article examines how detection timing influences fire scale across fuel types and wind conditions, and why early wildfire detection systems have become a critical resilience layer in high-risk landscapes.Wildfire risk emerges from interacting forces, not a single cause. Early wildfire detection does not change fuel or weather. It restores time and visibility at the earliest stage of ignition, when suppression options are widest and escalation is still preventable. Wildfire risk does not arise from a single cause. It emerges from the interaction of fuel loads, weather conditions, land management constraints, and response capacity. When hot, dry, or windy conditions coincide with accumulated fuels, fires can escalate rapidly once ignited. Under these conditions, detection speed becomes critical.

This article examines how detection timing influences fire scale across fuel types and wind conditions, and why early wildfire detection systems have become a c

08/01/2026

In 2025, Julian Thaller carried out the final climb of the Sandy Wooden Heritage fire tower, including access to the roof, to undertake general maintenance on the existing Pelco camera.

Sandy Fire Tower No. 5 was built in the late 1970s, most commonly cited as around 1979.

Sandy Fire Tower No. 5 stands near Blackbutt, Queensland, a timber fire lookout built to protect surrounding forestry and communities long before satellites, digital maps, or automated alerts existed.

Designed and built by Arthur Leis, Sandy formed part of Queensland’s mid-20th-century fire detection network. For decades, fire watchers climbed towers like this each season, scanning the horizon for smoke, taking bearings by hand, and radioing early warnings to protect timber country and nearby towns.

As technology evolved, cameras were added to fire towers to extend the reach of human fire watchers. Over time, monitoring moved off the tower entirely, into offices and control rooms, allowing a single operator to oversee multiple sites without climbing at height.

The next shift placed intelligence onto the camera itself.

Today, Sandy forms part of an AI-enabled early fire detection network operated and maintained by HQPlantations and exci.

Instead of relying on someone noticing smoke by chance, cameras continuously analyse imagery using artificial intelligence to identify early smoke signatures, automatically flag potential fires, and map detections in real time for human verification.

By 2026, Sandy Fire Tower was no longer safe to climb.
The stairs were gone.

The timber was rotting.

Fungus had taken hold throughout the structure.

When the ageing Pelco camera reached the end of its life, it was removed and replaced with an AXIS Communications camera. The installation was completed externally using a crane, with no one climbing the tower.

Sandy still stands, but it is slowly returning to the land it was built from.

The timber continues to decay.

The forest is reclaiming it.

This film documents the full arc of Sandy Fire Tower No. 5 from human fire watcher, to camera-assisted observation, to AI-driven early fire detection and reflects on how fire protection has evolved, while the responsibility to protect land, forests, and communities remains unchanged.

Sandy Fire Tower No. 5 stands near Blackbutt, Queensland — a timber fire lookout built to protect surrounding forestry and communities long before satellites...