The City of Irvine is partnering with SensoRy AI to detect wildfire ignitions in their earliest stages by deploying a network of ultra-early wildfire-detection and risk assessment sensors throughout the Irvine Open Space Preserve.
Last year, the City worked with SensoRy AI and the Orange County Fire Authority to install several test sensors that proved highly effective at detecting wildfire ignitions and providing data on fire risk. The project aims to provide fire departments and emergency agencies with the earliest possible notice of an ignition, especially during Santa Ana winds, giving them the best chance to extinguish the fire before it grows.
“Protecting Irvine’s open spaces from wildfire also helps protect the neighborhoods that border them,” said Mayor Larry Agran. “This sensor network will give public safety personnel critical information when every second matters. It is a promising use of technology to strengthen public safety while protecting the open spaces our community has worked so hard to preserve.”
The test deployment last year showed that the sensors performed even better than anticipated. Now, with funding from the California Department of Conservation’s Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) Program, the City and its long-time nonprofit land management partner, Irvine Ranch Conservancy (IRC), are preparing to deploy a large-scale network of sensors throughout the Irvine Open Space Preserve in early 2027.
SensoRy AI’s technology includes a wireless mesh sensor network that uses proprietary analysis techniques to detect wildfires at the earliest possible moment. It continuously measures critical environmental conditions, which greatly improves risk assessment and fire prevention, while providing firefighters with instant notifications and real-time updates to help predict a fire’s growth speed and direction. Designed to be low-cost, easily deployable, and scalable, the network requires no existing infrastructure and can be installed in high-risk and remote areas.
“This large-scale deployment is a very exciting milestone for us, and we are thankful to the City of Irvine for their continued vision and trust,” said Ryan Honary, who founded SensoRy AI while still in high school. “Since the deployment of the first-generation sensors last year, we have been able to make the hardware smaller and more efficient and train our AI models to be more accurate with large amounts of data that we have been collecting.”
Honary is headed to Stanford University in the fall on a Wildfire Fellowship and will remain directly involved in the work of SensoRy AI.
The City’s project is part of what SensoRy AI and IRC hope will become a network spanning the coastal open spaces of central Orange County, including areas surrounding Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and Crystal Cove State Park. Designed to complement and go beyond existing AlertCA wildfire cameras, the SensoRy AI sensor network fills viewshed gaps and uses technologies that differ from those of regular cameras. In one recent deployment, the network detected and reported an ignition from more than a mile away before it was identified by residents or any camera systems.
"We have supported Ryan and SensoRy AI since the very beginning because we recognized both the potential of the technology and this outstanding young man,” said Michael O’Connell, President & CEO of IRC. “These sensors are incredibly sophisticated and will improve both fire prevention and response. We are thrilled to work with our long-time partners at the City of Irvine to take this critical step in keeping our communities and wildlands safe and healthy.”
Wildfires continue to devastate California, including the Palisades and Eaton Fires in 2025, which killed 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures, causing well over $100 billion in economic losses. SensoRy AI’s ultra-early ignition detection system is a significant advancement toward protecting lives, property, and ecosystems from the devastating effects of these disasters, which was Ryan Honory’s personal mission when he conceived of the technology as a high school science project.
Learn more about SensoRy AI by visiting sensoryai.com (Open in new window).
