Department of Homeland Security adds sniffer device to AI tools to fight Colorado wildfires – The Durango Herald

Gilpin County was the first place in the U.S. to implement a sensor with the power of smell of a dog, which detected three fires, including one that was extinguished and then reignited.

BOULDER — New technology that allows firefighters to “smell” hot spots and locate embers or new fires even before smoke is seen is among next-generation safety measures the Department of Homeland Security says will help communities and first responders facing Colorado’s longer, more destructive fire season.

The sensor, which had its main event this week at the Boulder County Regional Fire Training Center, can detect fire-generated particles, volatile organic compounds, chemicals and gases, then send the data to a cloud-based system that updates every 18 seconds and sends geo-targeted alerts to emergency officials and first responders. Although the optimal detection range is half a mile to a mile away, developers said one sensor once detected a fire 5 miles away.

“If I'm grilling and I burn a steak, or if I'm baking cookies and I forget to turn the oven off, or worse, if something catches fire, you'd smell the difference, right?” says Debra Deininger, chief revenue officer at N5 Sensors, the developer of the sniffer. “We've mimicked a kind of dog's nose with our sensors… to detect if a fire has started, if it's burning or smoldering, often before you can see the smoke.”

Gilpin County was the first place in the U.S. to deploy the sensor, initially alone and later in partnership with United Power.

The sensors are designed to protect people, homes and escape routes, Deininger said. To achieve the widest possible coverage in Gilpin County, where 6,000 people live in an area of ​​340 square kilometers, the former emergency management director asked United Power to put the sensors on power poles. After more than 100 sensor installations, they have detected three fires, including one that flared up again after being extinguished.

Three of the 20 sensors have also been installed in Jefferson County, where they have not yet detected a fire. The other 17 are expected to arrive in the near future.

Dimitri Kuznetsov, assistant secretary of state for science and technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said emergency responders need all the help they can get from new technologies like N5SHIELD. Another AI-powered fire sensor recently launched in Colorado can detect fresh fires from satellite imagery and immediately alert NOAA and National Weather Service officials so they can make more efficient and informed decisions.

“The goal is to buy time to respond to the population, evacuate them and deploy equipment,” Kuznetsov said. “How do you buy moments, hours, days? It will probably be a mix and match of technologies and not a 'use this'. We will try to qualify a technology that has certain properties. And that will be done with first responders.”

Also presented: a “Holy Grail” for lung health

During Wednesday's session, hundreds of firefighters battled the Pearl Fire near Red Feather Lakes in Larimer County amid gusty winds that sent up clouds of smoke.

According to a recent study by the U.S. Forest Service, firefighters' risk of dying from lung cancer increases by 8 percent after five years of service, 43 percent after 25 years of service, and 16 percent and 30 percent after four years of service, respectively.

Since wildfire fighting began in the 1880s, bandanas and, more recently, N95 masks have been the only lung protection available to emergency responders, says Kimberli Jones-Holt, program manager for the Directorate of Science and Technology.

But better protection is coming soon: a battery-powered air-purifying respirator that a firefighter can carry in a backpack or hip pack that filters the deadly chemicals, particles and gases and passes clean air through a hose and mask.

The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control is one of the first agencies in the country to test the device. Jones-Holt said it will be “like the Holy Grail for firefighters” when it becomes available on FEMA's list of approved devices sometime in 2026.

The Department of Homeland Security also introduced an app that provides real-time location information of response teams for better coordination. It also introduced radar technology that assesses damage and risk from wildfires, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes to help disaster response teams assess the extent of the hazards, impacts on critical infrastructure and safe places for relief efforts. It also introduced AI-controlled drones (still in development) that will scout locations and find missing people by processing information fed to them by emergency responders.

Kuznetsov said the department has invested in these and other devices to improve emergency-related technologies and communications. “But there's no point in developing something that isn't connected to someone who needs it,” he added, citing the transformative power of hearing from a first responder during the Marshall Fire “standing on the silent street and saying, 'I don't have any information.'”

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado. For more information, visit coloradosun.com.

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