Last year in California alone, 6,200 fires ravished the Pacific coast, 2,300 buildings were destroyed, and more than 100 people were killed. Most fires in California are caused by dry hills surrounding suburban areas and a slow relay of information to the fire department.

Students at Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, California set out to find a way to potentially prevent wildfires based on weather conditions that often feed the flames. “I remember last year, around November 16th, when the Paradise fires made a strong impact on my community. They formed so much smoke that our local atmosphere became very cloudy, and it was very difficult for those who live in our community to even breathe,” said Neha, a participant of the project from Dougherty Valley High School.

It all starts with a critical mind

Students started some background research for the project. “I was just speaking to the fire department, and we were informed of multiple reasons why a fire occurs,” said a student from the project, “They also answered back with a bunch of questions, such as, ‘How many sensors would you be able to deploy to cast a net large enough to see all the uninhabited areas of the state?’”

After connecting with the fire department, students started to gather information to find the right solution. They discovered that current devices are extremely expensive, yet unreliable, using lots of power without Wi-Fi connections. So, to allow easy access in the forest, students planned to create a single network that spans a large distance with multiple sensors. The more sensors a network holds, the wider the range of data and values could get.

Together we can find a solution

“We brought out the solution that consists of features such as running on one battery for five years and transmitting over several kilometers. We also concluded that LoRa (Long Range - which is a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) protocol) is the best option for our project due to its low power consumption and high transmission distance,” said a student from Dougherty Valley High School.

The development didn’t stop there. Students presented this idea and their project at the regional climate action summit, where they received suggestions from various tech and climate specialists. Some suggested using AI to make models based on their data, others suggested finding more suitable and stronger materials for the outer casing, as well as finding the primary market for their product.

Protecting our community

Teachers were hidden heroes behind the project, supporting students in all aspects, but especially during the experiments. “To test their devices, we needed to take proper safety measurements, especially because we’re using an open flame,” said a computer science teacher, Azine Davoudzadeh.

By preventing these fires, students would be able to help California save billions of dollars lost in infrastructure. Moreover, they would be able to save many lives, including animals and plants. “We are especially proud of ourselves that we'd be able to drastically reduce the carbon emissions that occur after tragic wildfires.”