A New Approach to Forecasting Toxic Metals in Wildfire Smoke

In early July 2026, Stanford postdoctoral researcher Alex Honeyman and graduate student Mark Leone attached a box the size of a briefcase to a firetruck in Colorado that was about to be dispatched to a wildfire 300 miles away.

The box held a prototype array of air filters and satellite-linked sensors developed by Honeyman and Stanford colleagues to collect smoke samples and measure temperature, humidity, and toxic gases like carbon monoxide around the truck.

The devices provided the firetruck’s crew with real-time data through a smartphone app, helping them decide what gear to wear on scene, conveniently monitor data like humidity and temperature, and even calculate the probability that sparks could ignite another blaze. Developed at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability as part of a larger project called SmokeCast, the app also estimated the likelihood that soils within 10 miles of the fire could release toxic metals when exposed to extreme heat.

Read More: Stanford University

Source: ENN