Forest Camp 2025 – An International Fire Laboratory in the Heart of Poland

In May, the forests of central Poland — the region our company calls home — transformed for a few days into a truly international laboratory of fire. Experienced firefighters, foresters, and scientists from around the world gathered here to take part in the unique event that is Forest Camp. For us, the SmokeD team, this was another edition of the camp organized by SNEP (polish Association of Independent Fire Experts), which we were proud to support as a sponsor. Last year, we wrote on our blog about our first encounter with this remarkable event — you can revisit it here: https://smokedsystem.com/forest-camp-2024. Participating in Forest Camp 2025 is much more than a technological partnership for us. It’s a source of inspiration, an opportunity to run real-world field tests, and a chance to have fireside conversations that genuinely shape the way we think about the future of forest protection. .

A Global Community United by Fire Protection

This year’s edition of Forest Camp exceeded all expectations. For three days, a Polish forest became the global capital of wildland firefighting. Over 160 participants from 25 countries and 4 continents — North America, Africa, Europe, and Australia — came together to form an incredibly vibrant and diverse community. Among the colorful flags, distinct uniforms and proudly displayed shoulder badges, our logo could also be seen on the participants’ personal protective equipment. .

Technology in Action: SmokeD Alerts Pro in the Field

As a sponsor and technology partner, we had a unique opportunity not only to showcase our solutions, but — more importantly — to let participants experience them in action. Not on slides displayed on the wall or in a conference room, but out in the real forest during action — with backpacks, radios, GPS coordinates, and… our app. This year, mixed teams of participants headed into dense forest — but not just with a compass and a paper map (though those were there too!). Their gear was enhanced with the SmokeD Alerts Pro mobile app, which each participant could install on their smartphone. Thanks to the app, they had access to:

• Live camera feeds monitoring the forest,
• Fire alerts complete with images of smoke columns,
• Precise event locations displayed on a map,
• And navigation directly to the simulated “fire” site.

  The smoke rising above the trees wasn’t a real emergency — it was part of carefully prepared and highly realistic exercises. The fire simulations, complete with smoke, GPS coordinates, and time pressure, were designed to be realistic enough for the cameras to detect the smoke, the algorithms to trigger alerts, and the participants to respond as if it were an actual incident. This allowed participants to react immediately — and see firsthand how fast and accurate fire detection works, even before the smoke is visible from the ground. In the real world, every minute counts. When fire breaks out suddenly, instant access to information can mean the difference between a swift, effective response — or a missed opportunity that can’t be undone.

Real-World Feedback from the Field

 

“It felt like a real-life adventure game — only based on actual data. When my phone buzzed and I saw the smoke on the live camera feed, I felt like I was in a real operation” — said one of the participants from Germany.

“I tried to follow the azimuth on the paper map, but let’s be honest — I’m a foreigner in a Polish forest for the first time, and suddenly I’m doing orienteering march. Luckily, the app showed us where to go before we had a chance to get properly lost!” — joked a participant from South Africa.

  SmokeD Alerts Pro proved itself not just as an app, but as a tool that can truly make a difference — and not sometime in the distant future, but right now.  

“The cameras on our lookout tower picked up smoke every single time we triggered a ‘fire scenario’. Knowing that the system was actively monitoring and detecting our simulated fires was genuinely reassuring. Thanks to Forest Camp, we were able to test smoke detection in real-life conditions — across more than a dozen controlled burns. The smoke was detected quickly and accurately. It’s good to know that the SmokeD system we rely on for fire safety works exactly as it should.” — said a local forester.

  .

Where Practice, Technology, and Science Meet

Forest Camp is more than just equipment testing. For us, it’s a place where we explore not only how technology works but also the language of communication — between humans and algorithms, between practice and innovation. Conversations with practitioners from around the world and scientists studying wildfires, who spend three days testing our technology live in the forest, are an invaluable source of knowledge and inspiration for us. On a daily basis, we develop early fire detection systems. We work with algorithms, code, cameras, and millions of pixels. But technology is not just about image analysis — above all, it’s about trust, context, and understanding the everyday challenges faced by those we aim to support — the people on the front lines battling the wildfires. At the end of every system we build are real people: foresters, firefighters, monitoring operators. Their experience and intuition are just as crucial as the precision of the sensors. And that’s exactly what Forest Camp is all about. From the very beginning, the event had a clear goal that guided the organizers: to bring together different worlds — technology, practice, and science. Alongside realistic, highly advanced practical training, international networking and diverse perspectives are just as important here.


.

See You Next Year?

By the campfire, there’s room for everyone united by a fiery passion: women and men, firefighters and foresters, veterans and newcomers, practitioners and scientists — and for us, the technology partners who want not only to build better systems but truly understand fire and those who face it every day. We warmly greet all the new friends we met around the campfire at this exceptional forest gathering. Congratulations to the organizers, and thank you for the trust and opportunity to collaborate on such a unique endeavor. We’re already looking forward to the next edition — let’s meet again in the Polish forest! And maybe this time, participants from Asia and South America will join us too? We’re waiting for you!