EmberEye claims breakthrough in early fire detection

Cambridge-based wildfire technology company EmberEye says its ground-level infrared sensors detected a fire less than a minute after ignition during a controlled field test with the Marin County Fire Department in California, while the area’s incumbent camera system failed to detect it.

The company says the test is among 20 field demonstrations conducted across the US and UK, all of which resulted in successful fire detection. Trials have involved organisations including the National Trust, Surrey Wildlife Trust, the City of London Corporation, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service and the UK Ministry of Defence.

Founded by electronics engineer Enrico Miraglia Del Giudice and wildfire data and modelling specialist Kyle Nisbet, a Stanford PhD student, EmberEye is developing a combination of ground-level infrared sensors and artificial intelligence software designed to identify fires at the point of ignition and assess areas at greatest risk.

The company says its system can detect a fire within the first minute, significantly earlier than conventional approaches that rely on visible smoke or flames. EmberEye claims its technology is up to 60 times faster and 10 times cheaper than existing detection methods.

The need for earlier detection is becoming increasingly pressing as hotter and drier conditions contribute to more extreme wildfires across regions including the US, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Europe.

Traditional wildfire detection systems often depend on smoke or visible flames, meaning fires may already have had 30 to 60 minutes to spread before they are identified. EmberEye’s system is designed to detect the initial ignition while a fire is still small and potentially easier to contain.

The company points to modelling of the 2025 Pacific Palisades fire in California as an illustration of the potential impact of earlier detection. According to EmberEye’s indicative modelling, a fire detected after two minutes would have covered less than half a hectare, smaller than a football pitch, compared with around six hectares when the fire was detected approximately 20 minutes after ignition.

“When it comes to wildfire danger, speed, not size, is the real threat to communities and infrastructure,” said Seth Schalet of the California Fire Safe Council. “Fast fires put a premium on early detection, where every second counts, especially in the wildland urban interface.”

Schalet said there was an urgent need for detection technology that could identify fires within seconds and be deployed rapidly and cost-effectively at scale.

Dominic Vergine, President of EmberEye, said the Marin County trial demonstrated the potential difference between conventional camera-based detection and the company’s approach.

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“A small fire that the installed detection system couldn’t spot after an hour of burning was obvious to us in under a minute, as witnessed by the Marin County Fire Department and US Berkeley Disaster Lab,” he said.

Vergine said the company intends to work with public bodies, conservation organisations and infrastructure operators in the US and UK to further test and validate the technology ahead of the next wildfire season.

“Wildfires cost the US economy alone around $600 billion per annum and it is clear our technology could save both lives and money,” he said. “This is a question of public safety and we want to get this capability tested and proven with public bodies, conservation trusts and infrastructure operators across the US and UK before next summer.”