Traditionally, satellites are used to cover large areas, scanning for signs of fire, but satellite imagery can only get so close and provide so much warning. Sensors, placed strategically, are much more precise. 

“Most of us people, we kind of perceive a hazard using all of our senses: We see it, we could smell it, we could see the smoke, feel the heat,” Motayed said. “It’s the exact same way” with the sensors, …

N5 Sensors, a Rockville environmental hazard detection tech company, is using $2.5 million from a recent seed round to build more of its fire-detecting sensors and hire more boots on the ground to convince emergency services agencies, particularly in rural …

N5 Sensors, the Rockville, Md., company that provided sensors to the Oakland Fire Department, said it is working with four utilities around the country, as well as stakeholders in eight states and has two engagements in Canada.

While wildfire season is just beginning to ramp up in California this year after historic winter storms drenched the state and erased Bay Area drought conditions, the Oakland hills remain particularly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires — which is why the city is testing out a new network of …

A new initiative in Oakland, California, is part of a larger Homeland Security Department effort to understand the potential of environmental sensors. By combining artificial intelligence with this information on gas and particulate levels, the sensors can “identify the early ignition …