“They are here to help during emergencies,” said Caitlin Scully, UC San Diego spokeswoman. It is run and maintained by UC San Diego, with Cal Fire, large utilities like PG&E, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and other partners contributing locations and camera equipment. To address privacy concerns, UC San Diego blurs homes, parking lots and other nearby features that could track people in real time. Last year, there were 7,553 wildfires in Cal Fire’s jurisdiction. Of those, 1,668 were picked up by the cameras, said Cal Fire’s York.