---
title: "To Fight Wildfires, Look to Social Media, UMD Researcher Says"
date: 2025-07-29T18:25:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/to-fight-wildfires-look-to-social-media-umd-researcher-says"
section: Articles
---
# To Fight Wildfires, Look to Social Media, UMD Researcher Says

*July 29, 2025* — by [John Tucker](/author/john-tucker)


> UMD Research Changes Lives: AI-Based Crowdsourcing, Analysis of Posts Can Aid Emergency Response


One afternoon in September 2020, Loran Hughes noticed an ominous plume forming in the Southwest Oregon sky, shrouding the sun in darkness. The 62-year-old amateur astrophotographer, who had weak lungs, uploaded an image from his sky camera and fired off a tweet (below).

“These are not clouds,” it read. “Wildfire smoke \*cough\*.”

Hughes feared the blaze was headed his way, as winds began spitting out debris. “We had ashes as big as my hand falling,” he recalled in an interview.



*view of smoke in sky shot with astro camera*



**Sidebar note:**

**UMD Research Changes Lives**  
At the University of Maryland, scientists and scholars come together to spark new ideas, pursue important discoveries and tackle humanity's grand challenges—improving lives in our communities and across the globe. See more examples of how UMD research changes lives at [today.umd.edu/topic/research-impact](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research-impact).





**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Artificial Intelligence](https://today.umd.edu/topic/artificial-intelligence), [Civil and Environmental Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/civil-and-environmental-engineering), [Social Media](https://today.umd.edu/topic/social-media), [Research Impact](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research-impact), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [A. James Clark School of Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/james-clark-school-engineering)