SB 25-022

Senate Bill 25-022 allocates $7.5 million to study and develop artificial intelligence tools that can predict, prevent, and help fight wildfires in Colorado. This money will be used by the Division of Fire Prevention and Control to create maps and models that classify vegetation, predict wildfire risks after lightning strikes, track fire perimeters, and forecast where fires might spread. The bill is now signed into law, meaning the funding and initiatives it outlines are officially approved and can proceed.

Official Summary

Wildfire Matters Review Committee. The bill requires the general assembly to appropriate $7,500,000 to the division of fire prevention and control (division) for state fiscal year 2024-25 and allows any unexpended portion of the appropriation to also be expended in state fiscal year 2025-26. The division is required to use the money to study and develop applications of artificial intelligence that predict, mitigate, or assist in fighting wildfires, including, at a minimum, applications of artificial intelligence which produce data that can be incorporated into maps displaying the following: Classification of vegetation and wildfire fuel; Predictions regarding the likelihood of wildfire ignition potential in a particular area following observed lightning events; The perimeter of an ongoing wildfire; and Predictions regarding the locations and area to which an ongoing wildfire may spread. The division may contract with a third party that has developed artificial intelligence tools to predict, mitigate, or assist in fighting wildfires. The division is also authorized to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, and donations for the purposes of the bill. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)