The SDIS40, with:
presents PRO.D.A.L.I.S (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance Video).
With PRODALIS (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo), the SDIS des Landes shows its exemplary, modern and innovative capacities.
THE LANDES FIRE BRIGADE AND FOREST FIRE
PRODALIS is the technological testimony of the historical link that has been established through time between the Landes departmental fire brigade and forest fire.
The worst enemy of the Landes de Gascogne massif, with almost 620,000 hectares of forest in our department, has always been fire.
It was following the major fires that broke out between 1945 and 1947, and the awareness that followed, that the Landes departmental fire brigade was created (25 March 1947).
On 20 August 1949, the dramatic fire in Cestas (33) claimed 82 civilian and military victims and destroyed nearly 40,000 hectares in one afternoon. A day of national mourning was declared. This disaster left a lasting impression on people's minds and allowed us to better understand the involvement of forest owners, politicians and firemen in our department.
Following this terrible disaster, politicians and the State entrusted local actors with the protection and development of the territory. The DFCI A.S.A., local authorities, and professional forest firefighters who served in the so-called forestry centres at the time, began a large-scale development project.
In 1994, the creation of the Departmental Corps integrated the Forestry Corps (professional fire fighters) and the communal corps (volunteer rescue centres).
The departmentalization consolidated a broader vision of the forest fire problem. The prevention strategy upstream, and the fight strategy downstream, is global. Reflections were then made on a departmental or even interdepartmental scale.
Today, the work carried out over nearly 50 years optimises the effectiveness of the Landes fire brigade in terms of forest fire fighting.
The forest fire fighting strategy is based on one objective, three principles and one tactic:
The objective is the attack of incipient fires.
The principles are as follows:
In the name of the principle of early detection, the lookout is the initial link in the operational chain for fighting forest fires.
The surveillance of the forest massif has always been the source of deep reflection and of the permanent questioning of its organisation. It was organised very quickly and adapted over time.
Like the shepherds perched on their stilts, the Landes have always needed to get up high to monitor their environment.
1950s - The forest was watched from church towers and the first watchtowers appeared.
They were made of wood.
1970s - The wooden towers are replaced by towers made of metal angles. Surveillance at the top of the towers is carried out by professional forestry firemen.
1998 to 2005 - The 19 watchtowers spread over the department are replaced. They are made of galvanised steel.
The basic principle of the human lookout: At a height of 40 metres, the lookouts are equipped with a pair of binoculars, a transmission station and a large-scale map of the area.
Thanks to a sighting table (located in the cabin at the top of the watchtower), which is itself equipped with a sight that pivots on itself in the centre of a graduated disc, the spotter indicates by radio the position of the incipient fire. By triangulation with the directions provided by two other towers, the fire area is quickly located on a map.
2002 - The Landes SDIS creates 39 seasonal civilian jobs (spring/summer) for the surveillance of the forest massif, at the top of the towers, in order to allow the professional firemen to return to the operational activity in the field. The operating budget for these seasonal jobs is €500,000 per year.
On 5 July 2004, the body of Lionel Sanitas, a 42-year-old seasonal lookout employed by the Landes fire brigade , was found lifeless on the stairs of the Saint Vincent de Tyrosse lookout tower. The autopsy performed on the victim's body concluded that he had been electrocuted. An investigation was entrusted to the gendarmerie. The judicial procedure is still in progress, and the watchtower of Tyrosse is still under seal.
Following the accident, several expert reports were carried out as part of the investigation. To support the initial assessments, the SDIS40asked the Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS) to assess the watchtowers. This institute's mission is to evaluate and prevent accidental or chronic risks to humans. INERIS has already worked on the safety of SEVESO sites and nuclear power plants. The INERIS report was published in January 2005.
At the same time, the CFDT union filed a complaint against the SDIS for "endangering others".
On 26 November 2005, lightning struck the Léon watchtower, dislocating all the electrical installations and causing considerable damage to the surveillance cabin at the top of the tower.
This new accident confirms that, despite the numerous insulation works undertaken on the 19 watchtowers of the department, the "zero" risk does not exist.
On 21 January 2006, Robert Cabé, President of the Board of Directors of the Landes SDIS, announced that the surveillance towers in the Landes forest would be "disarmed" so as not to expose the lookouts to lightning!
This is the end of the lookout system in the Landes. The SDIS then has three months (beginning of the 2006 forest fire season) to find another alternative....
The strategic analysis must respond to the threat of forest fires.
Faced with this problem, the neutralisation of the lookout system directly threatens the firefighting strategy and therefore the effectiveness of the firefighters.
Finally, the strategic analysis must deal with a budgetary problem and a time problem linked to the proximity of the beginning of the season (15 March 2006).
On 24 January 2006, Colonel Bourdil, DDSIS of the Landes, was summoned to the Civil Security Directorate, together with the director of the Landes Prefect's office, to propose a new surveillance system for the Landes forest.
During this meeting, Colonel Bourdil proposed two solutions:
The director of civil security gives a favourable opinion to the implementation of these two solutions and gives his agreement in principle for a possible subsidy from the ministry in the framework of technological innovation.
The Landes SDIS then launched a call for tenders for aerial surveillance of the Landes forest massif. Three aircraft (CESNA 337 Push-Pull) were used between March and October to provide 800 hours of surveillance. Each aircraft carries a firefighter trained in aerial surveillance to follow pre-established routes according to risk levels and visibility. The budget allocated to this transitional solution is €430,000, which is almost the same as the budget allocated to human surveillance.
At the same time, the SDIS des Landes created an internal working group to find an innovative technical solution capable of replacing the human eye with an electronic eye.
The project of video surveillance as a detection system is launched....
The objectives of the development of the video surveillance project must respond to both operational and economic issues.
They also tend towards maintaining or even increasing the effectiveness of the SDIS of the Landes in terms of detection, and should allow the development of new and modern tools to rationalise the current fire-fighting system.
On the other hand, the urgency of the implementation is proven.
The purpose of the video surveillance system project is to detect and locate the beginnings of fires with equipment installed on the 19 watchtowers erected in the heart of the forest massif. The information gathered locally will be used to transmit, in real time, to the SDIS operational centre, the alerts and images necessary for their validation.
This project is based on three main areas:
The main objectives of the specification are to have :
Inaugurated at the end of the 2007 forest fire season, the PRODALIS system (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance Video) is above all a unique programme in Europe.
It is unique because it is the first time that a video surveillance system has made it possible to control the entire operational chain in terms of forest fires, from detection to fighting, from the birth of the fire to its final extinction, on a departmental scale.
It is also unique in the extent of its territorial coverage, i.e. nearly 660,000 hectares of forest. This is the first time that such a video surveillance system has been developed on a departmental scale, and not just any system, since the Landes region ranks first in France in terms of its forest area!
Transmitting images from 54 cameras spread over 18 watchtowers in real time to a single point is a technological achievement!
Being able to detect in less than 3 minutes any outbreak of fire over a total area of 660,000 hectares is an operational performance and confirms the national exemplarity of the Landes SDIS in terms of fire fighting.
PRODALIS (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) is finally a testimony of the perpetual commitment of the Landes fire brigade in terms of forest fire fighting but also of its capacity to innovate in this field, both modern and efficient!
PRO for Program
D for Detection
A for Automatic
L for Location
I for Fire
S for Video Surveillance
The principle of PRODALIS is based on the comparison and analysis of images, the transmission of these images to a single point (WIMAX type radio transmission network) and the possibility of remote control of the cameras.
Each watchtower is equipped with two detection cameras, each with a 180° view of the horizon, a camera for "raising doubts" equipped with a remote-controlled zoom lens, and two computer processing units.
The images from the 18 watchtowers are transmitted to a command room based in Mont-de-Marsan and analysed by an operator. Smoke appearing on the horizon is detected automatically and is indicated by a red circle on the control screen, associated with an audible call.
When a detection appears, the operator zooms in on the image and checks that it is indeed a fire. In this case, he triangulates with a second watchtower and transmits the geographical coordinates to the fire room, which triggers the emergency services.
PRODALIS has three functions:
Total cost of PRODALIS (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance Video) 951 383 € HT
State and Europe (via Ministry of Agriculture) 446 000 € excl.
Ministry of the Interior 100 000 € HT
Aquitaine Regional Council 65 000 € HT
Union Landaise de Défense Contre les Incendies 150 000 € HT
Total Subsidies 761 000 € HT
Self-financing by the Landes SDIS 190,383 € excl.
Landes General Council 123 749 € excl.
Landes municipalities 66 634 € excl.
In less than two years, the PRODALIS project (Programme for Automatic Detection and Location of Fires by Video Surveillance) has been thought out, tested, experimented and optimized to finally take all its credibility and operational efficiency at the end of the 2007 forest fire season.
Colonel Olivier BOURDIL is at the origin of the project.
As of January 2006, he set up a "Project Group", led by Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Marc ANTONINI, head of the Operations Group at the Landes SDIS. This group meets regularly to ensure the operational and administrative follow-up of the PRODALIS project (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance Video). It is composed of :
In March 2006, part of the "Project Group" went to the Bouches du Rhône(SDIS 13) to visit the "Firewatch" system, an embryonic video surveillance system tested on three high points.
At the beginning of May 2006, the competitive dialogue procedure was launched.
In August 2006, the choice of service provider was validated: the company PARATRONIC, specialised in flood warning, won the call for tenders.
Throughout the implementation of the project, it will work in close collaboration with the "Project Group". The objective of the selected service provider is clear: it must set up a project structure to ensure the entire implementation of the solution.
In the implementation of this project structure, PARATRONIC has to respect a precise timetable defined in the specifications, which defines the competitive dialogue:
The implementation of the system starts as soon as the contract is awarded (1st half of August 2006).
The fitting out of the Supervision and Control Centre (CSC) may begin in November 2006.
The implementation schedule with results is as follows:
The installation of the system must be carried out during the first five months of the contract; during this period and during the sixth month, tests will be carried out by the candidate with the close collaboration of the SDIS (simulation of real fires at various distances from 300 m to 15 km, or even at a greater distance if the system allows it; the number of simulated fires will depend on the availability of the SDIS).
A percentage of fires must be detected automatically within a maximum of three minutes from the time smoke is visible to the naked eye; this percentage must necessarily be greater than 90% for the period between the date of receipt of the system and 31 December 2007.
A false alarm rate is tolerated as follows:
- September 2006: the first tests are carried out on the watchtower of Losse.
- August to November 2006: tests on real fires are carried out.
- November 2006: the technical aspect of the project is validated, the system (2 surveillance cameras and 1 camera for raising doubts) is installed on three watchtowers.
- January 2007: the main transmission system is installed.
- February 2007: the CSC (Supervision and Control Centre) is installed at the CODIS.
- March 2007: The 18 watchtowers in the department are equipped and the applications are installed. The whole system is checked and validated.
- 19 March 2007 : the PRODALIS system (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) is received by the SDIS des Landes.
- March to October 2007 : the PRODALIS system (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) is tested during the whole forest fire season associated with aerial surveillance.
- October 19th 2007 : The SDIS of the Landes inaugurates PRODALIS (Programme of Automatic Detection and Localisation of Fires by Video Surveillance) in the presence of the Director of Defence and Civil Security, Mr Henri Masse, the Prefect of the Landes, Mr Etienne Guyot and the President of the General Council of the Landes, Mr Henri Emmanuelli.
Throughout the implementation of the project, the SDIS des Landes and PARATRONIC had to proceed in stages in
different areas:
a. The camera equipment.
b. The detection algorithm.
c. The transmission network.
d. The implementation of the Supervision and Control Centre (SCC) and the creation of the man-machine interaction.
e. The exchange of data to the START alert system and to the geographical information system.
Each step was subject to evaluative testing to assess the effectiveness of each parameter.
These benchmark test campaigns, which were planned and carried out throughout the project development process, made it possible to optimise
the detection algorithm as constraints were encountered, particularly in relation to image pollution (animals, vehicles, industrial fumes, dust, etc.) but also in relation to bad weather, which can interfere with or even damage the surveillance equipment. Five generations of algorithms had to be tested in two years.
These numerous evaluations made it possible to work on and develop new algorithms, in particular by working on detections in the green, but also on night-time detections. They have also made it possible to create new telemetry tools.
The tests on the shooting have made it possible to develop a 360° image.
Finally, the I.H.M. has been in constant evolution during the validation process. First, it was the subject of working meetings for its formatting. The CSC operators then had to be trained and their work organised.
- PRODALIS (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) is entering its 4th forest fire season at the heart of the operational system of the SDIS of the Landes.
- PRODALIS (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) has experienced two full seasons (2007 was an experimental season in addition to aerial surveillance). The 2008 and 2009 seasons demonstrated the stability of the system. The system operated 24 hours a day without any major failures, with low maintenance and therefore at low cost.
- Detection is fast, sometimes better than the alert by a call 18 (witness on site at the start of the fire).
- The system has proven to be very effective, particularly in detecting fires caused by lightning strikes in isolated or uninhabited areas (low probability of calls to the emergency services).
- PRODALIS (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance Video) allows for the precise location of fire starts.
- The system is also very useful for detecting fires that are not related to forest fires (house fires, fires in establishments open to the public, etc.)
- PRODALIS (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) allows the CODIS officer to monitor the fire in real time. This monitoring allows him to anticipate the engagement of the means (the CODIS is no longer blind!)
- Coupling with meteorological sensors.
- Fire modelling at CODIS.
- Retransmission of the image of the fire to the advanced command post on the ground so that the Emergency Operations Commander can follow the evolution of the fire in real time.
- Validation of night-time detections.
- Complemented by a system based on the physicochemical analysis of the environment using spectrometry.
It should be emphasised that this project was extremely dynamic within the SDIS, where everything had to be invented, tested and implemented. The implementation was particularly short for a project of this scale, and all the results obtained represent a real added value compared to the previous system.
« La forêt landaise sous surveillance vidéo »
Dans les Landes, la forêt occupe près de 620.000 hectares soit les deux tiers du département. Atout économique majeur pour le département,
puisqu’elle représente une richesse cultivée, la forêt landaise est un espace environnemental et culturel précieux donc un patrimoine protégé.
Elle fait donc l’objet d’une vigilance de tous les instants, notamment en matière de lutte contre les incendies. Depuis plus de 50 ans, cette lutte est organisée. Les sapeurs-pompiers du département et les Associations Syndicales Autorisées de Défense de la Forêt Contre les Incendies (ASA DFCI) ont toujours travaillé en étroite collaboration notamment en terme de prévention. Sur le terrain, cette implication collective s’est traduite au
sol par l’aménagement de près de 22 000 km de pistes et l’implantation de 1.500 points d’eau et par la mise en place d’un réseau de 19 tours de guet de 40 mètres de haut.
Dans le département des Landes, la stratégie de lutte contre les feux de forêt repose sur un objectif, trois principes et une tactique :
· L’objectif est l’attaque des feux naissants.
· Les principes sont les suivants :
1. un maillage étroit du territoire avec l’implantation au coeur du massif de 45 centres de secours.
2. l’aménagement préventif de la forêt landaise réalisé par la DFCI (Défense des Forêts Contre les Incendies) avec près de 21 700 kilomètres de pistes et 1 500 points d’eau (dont 600 forages) qui favorisent l’intervention des sapeurs pompiers au coeur du massif.
3. la détection précoce avec 19 tours de guet implantées judicieusement (entre 15 et 20 km de distance).
· une tactique de lutte spécifique rendue possible par l’aménagement de l’espace forestier. Elle consiste en un engagement dynamique des véhicules et des hommes au contact du feu. Pour tout départ de feu, 3 unités sont engagées. La technique d’attaque du feu consiste à ce que le porte lance attaque le feu depuis la tourelle du véhicule.
En 2006, le SDIS des Landes décide de moderniser l’utilisation de son arme essentielle en matière de détection précoce : les tours de guet.
Après le décès accidentel de l’un de ses guetteurs en 2004, le SDIS des Landes s’engage sur la voie de l’automatisation via la surveillance vidéo.
Il lance alors le système PRODALIS, « programme de détection automatique et de localisation des incendies par surveillance vidéo », un système unique en France puisque c’est la première fois qu’un tel dispositif est développé à l’échelle d’un département. Le principe de PRODALIS Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) est simple. Il repose sur la comparaison optique et l’analyse d’images restituées par 54 caméras installées sur les 18 tours de guet, la transmission de celles-ci en un point unique (situé au CODIS à Mont de Marsan) par un réseau de transmissions hertzien de type Wimax et sur la possibilité de télécommander les caméras à distance.
Développé depuis 2006 par le SDIS des Landes en partenariat avec la société PARATRONIC , ce système est opérationnel depuis deux saisons
grâce à l’implantation de trois caméras sur chaque tour de guet, deux caméras de détection qui balayent l’horizon sur 180° chacune et d’une
caméra dite « de levée de doutes » qui permet à un opérateur du CODIS de zoomer à distance pour vérifier s’il s’agit bien d’un départ de feu.
Lorsque la fumée détectée est identifiée et localisée par triangulation, l’opérateur transmet les coordonnées géographiques à la salle de feu qui déclenche les secours. PRODALIS(Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) possède ainsi trois missions essentielles : la détection précoce des incendies, la localisation des départs de feux, et le suivi du feu à l’aide des images transmises en temps réel au Centre de Supervision et de contrôle situé au CODIS, à Mont de Marsan.
Aujourd’hui, PRODALIS(Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) fonctionne. Même si la majorité des interventions feux de forêt font l’objet d’un appel 18, le retour d’expérience de ces deux dernières saisons permet de dire que PRODALIS(Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) se positionne en un complément précieux de détection précoce. L’ensemble des départs de feux a été détecté avec des détections de parcelles de 500m2 en feu à 20 km de distance.
Dans toute la phase d’expérimentation et de mise en place du système, le SDIS des Landes et la société PARATRONIC ont du adapter le programme au fur à mesure des contraintes rencontrées notamment par rapport à la pollution de l’image (animaux, véhicules, fumées industrielles, poussières, etc….), et par rapport aux intempéries qui peuvent parasiter le matériel de surveillance. A l’heure actuelle et après de nombreuses améliorations apportées, le logiciel informatique de PRODALIS(Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) permet d’optimiser les détections. Nous en sommes aujourd’hui à la 6ème génération d’algorithme depuis 2 ans et demi et nous travaillons actuellement à la mise au point de la détection nocturne.
Le montant global de l’opération est de 950 000 € dont 80% ont fait l’objet de subventions d’origines diverses (Europe via le Ministère de l’Agriculture, Ministère de l’Intérieur, Conseil Régional d’Aquitaine, Union Landaise de DFCI).
Inaugurated by the Landes SDIS at the end of the 2007 forest fire season, the PRODALIS system (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance Video) is above all a unique programme in Europe.
It is unique because it is the first time that a video surveillance system has made it possible to control the entire operational chain in terms of forest fires, from detection to fighting, from the birth of the fire to its definitive extinction, on a departmental scale.
The principle of PRODALIS (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) is based on the comparison and analysis of images, the transmission of these images to a single point (WIMAX type hertzian transmission network) and on the possibility of remote control of the cameras.
Each watchtower is equipped with two detection cameras, each of which observes the horizon over 180°, a camera for "raising doubts" equipped with a remote-controlled zoom lens, and two computer processing units.
The images from the 18 watchtowers are transmitted to a command room based in Mont-de-Marsan and analysed by an operator.
Smoke appearing on the horizon is detected automatically and materialised by a red circle on the control screen, associated with an acoustic call.
When a detection appears, the operator zooms in on the image and checks that it is indeed a fire. In this case, he triangulates with a second
In this case, he triangulates with a second watchtower and transmits the geographical coordinates to the fire room, which triggers the emergency services.
PRODALIS (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance Video) has three functions
- early detection of fires.
- locating fire outbreaks in the massif.
- monitoring the fire with the help of images transmitted to the CODIS (Centre Opérationnel Départemental d'Incendies et de Secours).
Implemented and operational in less than two years, the PRODALIS system (Programme de Détection Automatique et de Localisation des Incendies par Surveillance vidéo) is still evolving. Today, the Landes SDIS wishes to associate meteorological sensors with it, to develop a complementary system based on the physicochemical analysis of the environment using spectrometry and to validate the night detections already tested.
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