Ahead of the Chung Yeung Festival this Sunday, the Hong Kong Fire Services Department has announced the deployment of new AI-powered drone technology. The initiative is designed to bolster the department's ability to monitor and respond to hill fires, which often increase in frequency during the festival due to traditional tomb-sweeping activities.

According to Wong Tak-fai, the acting divisional officer for information and communications technology, the integration of artificial intelligence is intended to enhance both the speed and the accuracy of fire detection. By utilizing these drones, the department aims to operate more efficiently when navigating difficult terrain, such as hillsides, where manual monitoring can be challenging. The drones are expected to provide real-time data that allows firefighters to pinpoint the location and scale of potential blazes more effectively than traditional methods.

The deployment comes as part of a broader effort by the department to modernize its emergency response infrastructure. While the primary focus is on the upcoming festival period, the technology is intended to serve as a long-term asset for fire prevention and management. The department has emphasized that the AI software will assist personnel in processing visual information from the drones, reducing the time required to identify threats and dispatch resources to affected areas.