WORK FOR GOOD CUT - DIGITAL

FireCatchers - Sapeurs-Pompiers de France
Firefighters

Shortlist

Title:	FireCatchers
Brand:	Sapeurs-Pompiers de France
Product/Service:	Firefighters
Client:	Sapeurs-Pompiers de France
Entrant Company:	Havas Play France
Agency:	Havas Play France
Notes for Judging:	Wildfires are a serious and growing problem in France. To fight them, early detection is key. Fires rarely begin dramatically. They start quietly. Minutes can be the difference between a wisp of smoke and a fast‑moving disaster. Despite all the AI and technology around us, early detection remains surprisingly analog, relying on a single moment of human attention: someone noticing smoke at the right time and reporting it. At the heart of this effort are the Sapeurs‑Pompiers, France’s national firefighting and rescue service. Every day, they spend countless hours monitoring hundreds of surveillance cameras across the country’s forests. But even with their dedication, there simply aren’t enough eyes to catch every early ignition. Meanwhile, on Twitch, massive live audiences gather daily. Before most streams begin, viewers enter a waiting ritual: the “Starting Soon” screen. For five to ten minutes, thousands of people are already present, eyes fixed on the screen, waiting for their favorite streamer. Gamers are trained to notice anomalies, movement, tiny changes in visual patterns. If wildfire prevention needs more eyes at precisely the right moment, Twitch already offers them: focused, coordinated and in real time. Our idea was to transform Twitch’s pre‑stream environment from a passive moment into an active watchtower. We partnered with four major French streamers to replace their usual “Starting Soon” screens with live surveillance feeds from high‑risk forest areas. Viewers were given a simple, clear instruction: ‘If you notice suspicious smoke, report it in the chat.’ The pilot launched in mid‑July 2025, at the height of wildfire season, in the high‑risk region of Hérault. To ensure responsible participation, viewers received clear visual guidance to reduce false signals, supported by dedicated moderation and monitoring processes. The experience unfolded naturally: 1. Viewers joining the stream no longer saw the usual looping “Starting Soon” screen, they saw a live forest feed. 2. While waiting, they monitored the landscape in real time. 3. When they spotted possible smoke, they simply typed the camera number into the chat. 4. Once multiple matching alerts appeared, the signal was escalated for verification by the local emergency operations centre (CODIS). For creators, adoption was easy as the solution didn’t alter their content or their schedule. For viewers, it felt natural because it didn’t add noise to the platform, it simply made an existing behaviour useful. After the launch, 646 additional streamers joined the initiative, allowing us to reach more people and increase the chances of detecting additional fires. In its first activation phase, the initiative mobilised streamer communities totalling close to 600,000 followers. Together, they generated 2,190 hours of surveillance, all during moments that previously served no purpose beyond waiting. Most importantly, the initiative contributed to the detection of five fires and helped protect 1,700 more hectares of forest compared to 2024. What started as a local solution became a scalable model that Spain and Italy will also adopt in 2026. A familiar Twitch moment became an organised, collective, real‑time vigilance system.