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Fire district and county brief EPRC on N5 particulate-sensor pilot, outline costs and procurement hurdles
Summary
Fire-district representatives briefed the committee on the N5 particulate-sensor pilot (AI-driven particulate/gas detection). They said the county has procured devices for a pilot but had not switched them on; the district plans a 20-unit pilot for Los Altos Hills when procurement and comms integration are resolved. Approximate per-unit cost discussed: about $8–10k per device, with procurement and maintenance questions outstanding.
Fire-district and county representatives briefed the Emergency Preparedness & Response Committee on the N5 particulate-sensor system, an AI-driven early-warning detection network that focuses on particulates and gas signatures rather than traditional visual-camera imagery.
Jay Logan summarized county work on N5s, saying the county has purchased a pilot cluster and is working through communications integration and AI tuning before turning the network on. "The N5s are not active at this time. They should be the middle of June," he said, noting that the county’s rollout has required clustering the devices more closely than originally expected to allow triangulation and reliable detections. He explained trade-offs in AI sensitivity: too sensitive and agencies get many false alarms; too insensitive and ignitions may not be detected until smoke accumulates.
Logan said the district plans a separate Los Altos Hills pilot of about 20 sensors once procurement and communication systems are resolved. He provided an order-of-magnitude installed cost cited in the discussion — about $8,000–$10,000 per device including installation and an initial maintenance period — but said ongoing maintenance/license fees for subsequent years were not yet specified and would be part of contract negotiations.
Committee members asked practical questions about where the county’s sensors are sited (Rancho San Antonio area and Hidden Villa vicinity were cited), how alerts are routed to county communications and duty battalion chiefs, and what the district’s response model would be when a sensor reports particulates. Logan said configuration and response protocols (e.g., who is notified and whether an engine is dispatched) still need to be worked out between the district and county communications.
Members highlighted the need to cluster sensors to form effective detection zones and urged the district to consider siting in multiple parts of town once pilot lessons are learned. The committee also discussed combining camera systems, N5 sensors and manual observations into a mosaic dashboard to provide layered situational awareness.
Next steps: the district will monitor the county pilot as it comes online, refine procurement and comms approaches, and report back to the EPRC when the Los Altos Hills pilot procurement schedule is confirmed.
