[ECO]17-Year-Old Ryan Honary Turns School Project into Global Wildfire Solution

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17-year-old Ryan Honary turns school project into global wildfire solution

In a world increasingly impacted by devastating wildfires, 17-year-old Ryan Honary is deploying his AI-powered wildfire sensor this week in California, in collaboration with the Orange County Fire Authority. 

Having earned Ryan a spot as a

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in The Earth Prize 2025, the technology can detect fires as small as a square foot, giving firefighters critical time to act before wildfires can spread.

A timely solution for wildfire threats

The inspiration for Ryan’s creation comes from a personal experience—the devastating California wildfires of 2018 which destroyed 18,000 homes and buildings. When travelling to a tennis tournament, he saw on television a devastating fire engulfing the hills behind his house. After trying to contact his family to confirm they were safe, he began to think about why there wasn’t an effective wildfire detection technology in place. 

Remembering his fifth-grade science project on heat detection, he began to reimagine the concept, entering various science competitions and upgrading it each time. Today’s final product, called ‘SensoRy AI’, combines infrared sensors, AI, machine learning, and a camera to create a system capable of detecting even the smallest sparks. “Since 2020, my goal has been to create technology that gives first responders the early warning they need to respond to wildfires faster and more effectively,” explains Ryan.

Now, after 6 years of working on the solution, ‘SensoRy AI’ is being initially deployed across high-risk areas within the Irvine Open Space Preserve—a vital ecological corridor spanning nearly 40,000 acres of interconnected open space. Owned by the City of Irvine, OC Parks, and California State Parks, this preserve links Orange County’s open spaces to the Cleveland National Forest. OCFA Fire Chief Brian Fennessy explained: “Early detection is one of our greatest weapons in what has become a year-round fire season, empowering crews to more safely and effectively execute the robust and rapid initial attack required to keep wildfires small.”

Without a doubt, Ryan’s innovative solution comes at a crucial moment. Wildfires have caused massive loss of life and property worldwide, from the United States to Portugal. In

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, 57,000 acres were scorched this year, resulting in nearly 30 deaths and over $255 billion in damages. In

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, nearly 147,000 hectares were burned last September alone, with the European Commission having since committed €500 million for recovery.

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is making these fires more frequent and intense, making early detection technologies like SensoRy AI more critical than ever.

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Ryan Honary of SensoRy AI. Image: The Earth Prize

The Earth Prize: Nurturing young minds

Like Ryan, many young people today have lived through climate events and are ready to take action not through marching, but by inventing solutions.

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, the world’s largest environmental competition for young people aged 13-19 years, offers one-to-one expert mentoring, learning resources and funding of $100K for the winning teams to scale up, empowering young changemakers to turn their ideas into real-world solutions. Since its launch in 2021, the competition has reached over 15,000 young people across 163 countries and territories, with $500,000 so far having been awarded to the top teams. 

These young changemakers’ ideas continue to be scaled up even after the competition has ended. Team

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(Winners of The Earth Prize 2023), for instance, are currently working with a national manufacturer for their cutting-edge filter that recycles up to 90% of toxic laundry wastewater. Ryan is no different in his ambitions—the deployment of his solution this week is the start of his solution making a real life impact. 

Ryan spoke about his experience of being a

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: “I believe that youth should be going beyond talking and should really focus on developing pragmatic solutions. One of the things about The Earth Prize is actually going for solutions rather than just speaking about them. So that’s why I decided to apply. It’s really fun, there’s really nothing to lose, and being a part of it is super interesting. Especially once you get your name called as one of those last 10 finalists, it’s exciting”.

What’s next?

As The Earth Prize 2025 continues to inspire and support young changemakers like Ryan, the competition is entering its next exciting phase. The top 35 Scholar teams have already been selected, and from April 1-7, one winner from each continent will be announced (Africa, Asia, Central & South America, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania & Southeast Asia). After this, the public will have the chance to vote, culminating in the crowning of the global winner on April 22 (Earth Day)!

Follow

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to find out who will be the next generation of environmental changemakers—stay tuned for this spring! 

Read other articles by Charlotte Tucker:

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