CBS 8 spoke with Cal Fire San Diego on how crews battle fires that happen on the Mexico side of the U.S.-Mexico border.
SAN DIEGO — South of the U.S.-Mexico border, Tijuana saw a blanket of thick smoke Tuesday. With Tijuana just miles from San Diego, CBS 8 spoke to Cal Fire Capt. Robert Johnson about their response when it comes to fires near the border.
“We work with firefighters in Mexico,” Johnson said. “We actually have liaisons that communicate regularly between the firefighters in Mexico, and there have been multiple circumstances that our firefighters have went into Mexico to assist on fires as well.”
Johnson emphasized that each situation is assessed individually, and the response depends on where the fire is located and the direction it’s moving.
“If it is determined to be in Mexico, there are different types of responses we can send,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we’ll send a single engine just as a smoke check, to go investigate to kind of [get] a more accurate location of where the fire is, how close to the U.S. border it is and if it’s going to be a threat.”
Cal Fire has several tools to monitor and respond to fires, including the use of cameras. The cameras can help crews keep a close eye on fires throughout the state and into Mexico.
“We utilize cameras that are through Alert California and their partnership with Alert California and UCSD,” Johnson said.
Artificial Intelligence technology can also help crews spot potential fires.
“The AI technology is able to detect anomalies as they’re scanning,” Johnson said. “They are continually rotating and looking for anomalies. In the event it locates an anomaly, it will mark that, and someone can review it to review if that is smoke.”
Johnson recommends community members sign up for Alert San Diego and the Genasys Protect application.
