The Department of Homeland Security visited Colorado this week to showcase new technology it says could improve the response to wildfires. One of those devices was a wildfire sensor developed by the company N5 Sensors.
The sensors take 30 measurements every 18 seconds, gathering data on particulates in the air, the temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure. Then, that information is analyzed using AI.
“They baseline the “smell” of the area, and then they pick up particles in many different sizes, and they understand, ‘Is this a fire or is this something else?’” explained Dimitri Kusnezov, the DHS undersecretary for science and technology.
The sensors, he said, could work in tandem with other recent developments in technology, which share the goal of allowing first responders to get to fires near communities sooner.
“The world is changing around us and we have to think about how we respond in smarter ways, drawing upon whatever technologies we can, from satellites to sensors to cameras,” Kusnezov said.
Nate Whittington is one of the local emergency managers with whom DHS met in Colorado. In 2022, Gilpin County, where he worked at the time, was the first place in the U.S. to use the N5 sensors. Whittington said he saw promise itn the devices, which could alert the county to fire starts before people can see them or smell smoke.
“If we can give 30 minute lead time to get people out, that allows us to get resources in to stop the fire sooner,” he said.
Jefferson County, where Whittington works now, will receive 20 sensors from DHS as part of a plan to continue testing the technology. The sensors will be installed this winter, likely on telephone or light poles. Gilpin County will also get 100 of the devices.
Whittington said the sensors could have been helpful for a fire in his county this summer, which forced evacuations. A sheriff's deputy happened to spot the blaze at 2 a.m..
“If we had this technology throughout the whole county, we may have been able to see that fire before that orange glow even occurred,” he said. “That's the hope of these sensors: That we can catch a fire before it becomes a wildfire.”
The sensors could be placed in more remote areas because they don’t need cell phone service to relay their data. They could also be placed in locations that wildfire-detecting cameras can't see.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
