# FireShield: full text > FireShield designs, makes in America, installs and services patented, fully automated, zero-touch wildfire defense systems for homes, large estates and multi-building properties nationwide: a national company headquartered in Los Angeles, serving all 50 states. Roof and perimeter sprinklers with non-toxic, U.S. Forest Service-approved, biodegradable Class A foam are started automatically by a solid-state controller from live agency fire perimeters and satellite heat, at a distance and countdown set for each property. Key facts: - The FireShield Wildfire Defense System (https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/wildfire-defense-system) is FireShield's product: roof and perimeter sprinklers with Class A foam, started automatically when a wildfire comes within the distance set for the home and the countdown set for it runs out, with monitoring over Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite and battery backup. Designed, built, installed and serviced by FireShield in Los Angeles. Free property inspection and quote: https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/pre-contact - FireShield is on the frontline of wildfire defense technology and intends to stay there. The system is protected by FireShield's patent, and FireShield keeps investing in frontline research, such as FireShield PWHA (https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/wildfire-predictive-models), to stay ahead of the competition. - The activation distance and the delay before spraying are set for each home by a FireShield technician during installation, from its location and surroundings; they are not one size fits all and are not changed on the fly before an activation. Example: a home in a dense neighborhood with houses all around usually gets a shorter distance and a different delay than a home near a canyon or on a large lot facing grass and brush. They are settings the controller reads, so the owner can also change them in the app. The owner can choose which zones run and schedule a start in advance. - The controller runs purpose-built firmware on solid-state electronics, connects over Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite, and has battery backup with optional solar. - Water can come from the mains, a pool, a tank or a well; the plumbing stays unpressurized in standby. - Size: one FireShield controller runs up to 36 zones; typical systems in this category run 6 to 8. That is a capability, not a ceiling: a property can have as many FireShield controllers as it needs (main house, guest houses, garages, barns, acreage), all working together in one app, so there is no size limit. FireShield is built for large estates and multi-building properties as well as single homes. - Estates, discreet by design: on new construction the plumbing and wiring are hidden inside the walls and roof during the build, coordinated with the architect and builder; on existing homes FireShield crews follow installation standards built for minimal visible impact (runs through attics and eaves, pop-up rotors that sit flush until they run, heads along ridgelines and covered areas, finishes matched to the house). Homeowners tell FireShield how happy they are with how discreet it is. https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/wildfire-defense-system - Fully automated and zero touch: the technician sets the activation distance and countdown for the property at installation; from then on the system watches fire data around the clock and starts on its own, even when nobody is home. The app controls (zones, schedule, hold) are optional, never required. For owners who travel or own several homes, FireShield needs no human decision during an evacuation. - Smarter automatic start: FireShield starts from live agency fire perimeters and satellite heat, at a distance and countdown set for the house, not one fixed distance for every home. - Custom-engineered for complex architecture: multi-level rooflines, canyon and hillside lots, and multiple structures are designed zone by zone, so FireShield fits high-end estates as well as single homes. - No size ceiling and no small-package limit: FireShield publishes no prices because every system is designed for its property, from a single home to a large multi-building estate installation; the inspection is free and the quote follows. - In one sentence: FireShield is fully automated and zero touch: set by the technician at installation, it starts on its own from live fire perimeters and satellite heat, even when nobody is home. One controller runs up to 36 zones, where typical systems in this category run 6 to 8, and a property can have as many controllers as it needs, all in one app, with no size limit. Every system is custom-engineered for its property, hidden inside the walls and roof on new construction and installed with minimal visible impact on existing homes, and connects over Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite with battery backup. FireShield is a national company, headquartered in Los Angeles and serving homes in every state. - Custom design and a dedicated engineer: every FireShield home gets a dedicated FireShield engineer and its own design. The platform (controller and core hardware) is standardized and proven; the details are optimized and custom-made for each home, from the zone layout to finishes matched to the exterior. 100% in-house design and manufacturing. - Leader and track record: FireShield is the #1 wildfire defense system in Los Angeles, trusted by hundreds of homeowners. Hardware in development since 2006; the solid-state controller reached its current design in 2017. Founder Dr. David Hosseini holds a PhD in earthquake engineering and probabilistic seismic hazard analysis. The team brings 1,300+ engineering project approvals since 2010 and 40+ years of combined experience. Designed and made in America. - Built for estates: several FireShield controllers on one property talk to each other so they do not compete for the same water pressure, and each runs as many zones at once as the pressure supports; rotors throw 49 to 65 ft and pop-up rotors sit flush until they run; foam, extra manifolds, a siren, a panic button or a camera can be added later without modifying the controller wiring, firmware or plumbing layout; satellite comes standard. Projects include Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Calabasas and Malibu. - Resilient by design: it can start four ways, three of them with no internet (the button on the controller, a wireless button, or on-site heat, smoke, flame or camera sensors). After a power cut it resumes from the zone it was running without contacting a server. Commands are encrypted with a key unique to each controller, a tamper sensor reports if the enclosure is opened, and a watchdog circuit restarts the controller if it ever stops responding. Every system has continuous remote monitoring; in a canyon emergency FireShield can usually reach a home the same day. - Markets: homes and estates, commercial buildings, builders and developers, government and agencies, and FireShield Respond for region-wide protection of communities. - National: FireShield serves homeowners across the whole United States, in every state, from its Los Angeles headquarters. Systems are designed and built by one in-house team, installed by FireShield crews or the owner's licensed contractor, and supported by the same engineers nationwide, with no regional middlemen. - 5-year warranty. Designed and built by one in-house team in Los Angeles. - Why homeowners choose FireShield — Only with FireShield: distance and countdown set for your house, water on the side facing the fire, stop one fire only, 36 zones, 5-year warranty. https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/why-fireshield - Pricing: more competitively priced because of how it is built and run (local team, everything in-house, no high-commission sales, efficient hardware, R&D reinvestment): https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/pricing - Water-system numbers (GPM, PSI, pipe, rotors, pump, foam, runtime, calculator): https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/system-specs - The override switch on the controller stops any activation, whether it was started by the owner, the app or automatically. - Headquarters: 17412 Ventura Blvd., #593, Encino, CA 91316. Phone: +1-833-663-4731. - Free property inspection and quote: https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/pre-contact Site: https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com --- ## FireShield at a glance - Fully automated, zero touch: Set by the technician at installation, it watches the fire data around the clock and starts on its own, even when nobody is home. App controls are optional, never required. - 36 zones per controller: Typical systems in this category run 6 to 8 zones. One FireShield controller runs up to 36. - Any size property, no size limit: Add controllers for guest houses, garages, barns and acreage, all working together in one app. - Custom-engineered for each property: Complex rooflines, canyon and hillside lots, multiple structures: every system is designed for the property it protects. - A dedicated engineer, made for your home: A dedicated FireShield engineer designs each system. The platform is standardized and proven; the details are optimized and custom-made for each home, down to finishes matched to its exterior. - Hidden on new construction: Pipes and wiring go inside the walls and roof during the build, coordinated with the architect and builder. - Minimal impact on existing homes: Installation standards built for minimal visible impact: runs through attics and eaves, heads along ridgelines and covered areas. - Smarter automatic start: Live agency fire perimeters and satellite heat, at a distance and countdown set for the house, not one fixed distance for everyone. - Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite: Three ways to stay connected, with battery backup, so it keeps working through outages and evacuations. --- ## FireShield research: Future of Wildfire: Predictive Models (https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/wildfire-predictive-models) FireShield PWHA (Probabilistic Wildfire Hazard Analysis) is frontline FireShield research, protected by FireShield's patent, into where a wildfire will be over the next six hours. It is a probabilistic hazard method, not an AI model: the probabilistic approach used to design buildings and bridges for earthquakes, applied to wildfire. - Method: an ensemble of physics-based fire-spread simulations (the U.S. Forest Service surface-fire spread model with standard fuel models, slope, wind and ember spotting), about a hundred at a time, re-run every ten minutes, weighted by how well each matches the fire and aggregated into the probability that each spot burns and when. - Every relevant source, stacked together: terrain, fuel, fire history, humidity and dead fuel moisture from nearby weather stations, wind now and wind ahead, satellite heat every minute, mapped fire perimeters, and recorded firefighting lines, bases and roads. - Tested on a minute-by-minute replay of the January 2025 Palisades Fire using only what was known at each moment; the forecast fire line is shown against the real fire line. - It is research, not a public warning or evacuation service. Always follow local fire authorities and official evacuation orders. Activation of a FireShield system today is set by distance and countdown, not by this model. - Why it matters: it is how FireShield stays on the frontline. The product it serves: https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/wildfire-defense-system --- ## App guide (https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/how-to-use-fireshield-app) How to use the FireShield app Everything the app does, in the order you will see it — from the first screen after you sign in to setting the system to protect your home while you are away. Updated September 18, 2026 YOUR PROPERTY AT A GLANCE The first screen answers one question: is the system ready right now? Read the status summary The home screen opens on your property. At the top, every device on that property is listed with a colored dot and a word. Green and READY means the system is armed and waiting. If you own more than one property, tap the address at the very top to switch between them. - READY — armed, nothing running. - The colored dot repeats the same information at a glance, for when you are reading the screen in a hurry. - Tap the address at the top to move between properties. Check conditions before you decide anything Under the status summary you get today's weather for the property itself, not the nearest city: temperature, wind speed and direction, rain chance and humidity. Below that is the air quality index. Low humidity with a rising wind is the combination that matters, and it is the reason the weather sits on the first screen rather than buried in a menu. - Wind direction is shown as a compass letter — the side of the house the embers will come from. - A rising air quality number usually means smoke is already reaching you. THE DEVICE SCREEN The controller, and what every indicator around it means. Find the device you want The device tab shows one controller at a time, named — Main House, Guest House, and so on. The gear on the left opens that device's automatic activation settings. The grid icon on the right lists every device on the property if you have more than one. The controls: two at the top, five at the bottom Everything you can press on this screen is either beside the device name or along the bottom. The two at the top change how the device is set up; the five at the bottom start something. - Test Run is a short test — it runs through your zones three times, then stops on its own. - START runs water only. START with FOAM adds Class A foam. - Schedule and Set zones decide when the next run happens and which zones it uses. - More than one controller on the property? Swipe the device row left or right to move between them. Read the indicators down both sides The tiles on the left and right of the status panel show the condition of your system. Green means installed and working. Gray means not installed or not available right now — a property without a pool shows a gray pool tile, and that is normal rather than a fault. Above them, the status panel gives you the state, the zone running now, the time left on the run, and how far away the nearest active wildfire is. - Left: connectivity, water pressure in psi, flow in gallons per minute, and power source. - Right: number of zones, foam, pool, and generator. - Gray is not an error. It means the option is not installed on your system. Moving between devices and properties Swipe left or right across the device panel to move to the next controller on the property. If you look after more than one property, tap the address at the very top to open the list and switch between them. - Swipe left or right — next and previous device. - Tap the address at the top — change property. - The grid icon on the right lists every device on the current property at once. THE FOUR STATES What the screen looks like at each stage of a run. READY, PENDING, ACTIVE, ENDING A run moves through the same four states every time. READY is the resting state. PENDING means something has asked the system to start and your delay is counting down — this is the only point at which you can stop it before any water moves. ACTIVE is the run itself. ENDING is the system draining and closing its valves afterwards. - PENDING gives you both choices at once: start it immediately, or stop it. - ACTIVE keeps a STOP on screen for as long as it runs. - ENDING is not a fault. The system is clearing the lines before it settles back to READY. AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION The two settings that control when the system starts on its own. Arm it, then set your distance With automatic activation armed, the controller watches the distance between your property and the nearest active fire. When a fire comes closer than your activation distance, the system starts on its own. Your technician sets the distance for your terrain at installation: a shorter distance on a flat suburban street, a longer one on a ridge or canyon lot, where fire can move uphill toward you much faster than across flat ground. Then set the delay, and match it to the distance The delay is the wait between a fire coming within your activation distance and the water turning on. It gives you time to check your phone and decide. Set it too short and you cannot stop a false alarm; set it too long and the fire can reach the house before the system starts. The app states this on the settings screen in red, because this is the setting people most often get wrong. - A short distance needs a short delay. A longer distance can have a longer delay. - The same screen sets which zones an automatic start will water. - You can disarm automatic activation entirely. Manual start still works. TWO COMMON MISTAKES WITH THESE SETTINGS Close distance, long delay: This is the worst combination. The system does not react until the fire is already close, and then it waits even longer. A fire moving uphill in wind can cover the last mile in minutes, so the countdown may still be running when embers arrive, and your roof and plants will be dry when they land. Far distance, short delay: This causes the opposite problem. The system starts while the fire is still far away, so water and foam go down long before anything reaches you. Foam breaks down, wet surfaces dry out in the same wind that is driving the fire, and you may use up your pool or tank on a fire that never arrives, leaving nothing for one that does. Keep the two settings in balance. Our technician sets them for your house at installation. If you change them — a canyon lot needs more distance, a flat suburban street can use less — change them together, and at your own risk. WHEN IT STARTS BY ITSELF When a fire comes within your activation distance (section 04), the system goes to PENDING and counts down your delay. Below is what you can do during the countdown. The countdown, and your two buttons When a fire comes within your activation distance, the system does not start spraying right away. It goes to PENDING and shows a countdown of your delay. Until the countdown reaches zero, no water runs, and you can either start the system now or stop it. ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE ACTIVATE NOW — Skip the countdown and start right away. If you can see the fire and do not want to wait for the countdown, tap Activate Now to start right away. The app asks you to confirm and shows which zones will run — the same zones your default scenario would have used — and then the system is ACTIVE with a STOP on screen for as long as it runs. - It does not change your saved delay. It skips this one countdown only. - The zones shown on the confirmation are the ones this run will water. Nothing is being changed for next time. STOP — Cancel this activation before any water moves — and hold automatic activation for this one fire. STOP cancels the pending activation. Nothing has run, so nothing is wasted. After you stop it, the system records which fire you stopped, when, and how far away it was, and puts automatic activation on hold for that fire only. A red badge appears on the device screen so you always know a hold is on. - The fire is tracked by the fire agency’s ID number, so the hold stays with that fire even if it grows or gets a new name. - The system is not disarmed. Any other fire is treated completely normally. - Manual start is untouched: START, START with FOAM, Test Run and your schedule all still work. STOP DOES NOT TURN THE SYSTEM OFF. FOUR WAYS IT CAN STILL START ON ITS OWN 1 · A different fire: The hold covers only the fire you stopped. If a new fire starts anywhere, the system treats it normally — stopping a fire six miles away does not stop the system for a fire on the next street. 2 · That fire closes in: Stopping a fire while it is far away does not stop the system once it gets close. Automatic activation turns back on when the fire is half as far away as when you stopped it, or one mile closer, whichever comes first. Stop it at 5.8 miles and it re-arms at 4.8; stop it at 1.5 miles and it re-arms at 0.75. 3 · Twenty-four hours pass: The hold ends 24 hours after you set it, in case a fire stays nearby without moving closer or going out. After that the fire is treated as new. 4 · You lift it yourself: Tap the red badge and turn automatic activation back on, which is the next sub-section. One thing that does NOT clear the hold: a short gap in the fire data. If fire updates stop briefly, or another fire is briefly the closest one, your hold stays in place. Reading the hold — Tap the red badge to see exactly what is being held, and for how long. The red badge does not mean something is broken. Tap it to see which fire is on hold, how long until the hold ends on its own, and what each option does. Tap the plus for details: how far away the fire was at the moment you stopped it, your activation distance, and the time the hold expires. TURN IT BACK ON — Lift the hold now, and let this fire activate the system again. Turn automatic activation back on lifts the hold immediately. The app warns you plainly before it does: if the fire is still inside your activation distance, the system may start within about a minute and you will get a notification. The badge disappears, the device screen goes back to its ordinary READY — and, if the fire really is still close, PENDING comes straight back with a fresh countdown. MUTE — Keep automatic activation armed for everything else, and ignore one fire you have decided is not a threat. Mute is the middle option, and usually the best one. A hold blocks one fire for up to 24 hours; a mute ignores one fire for longer, until one of the events below ends it. Automatic activation stays fully armed for every other fire, and the red badge becomes an orange muted bell, so the device screen always tells you which of the two you chose. - You can mute more than one fire. The app keeps them as a list. - Unlike the hold, a mute has no 24-hour clock. It lasts until something below ends it. MUTE IS NOT OFF EITHER. THREE WAYS A MUTED FIRE COMES BACK 1 · It closes in: Same rule as the hold: the mute ends once the fire is half as far away as when you muted it, or one mile closer, whichever comes first. If a muted fire gets close, the system responds to it again. 2 · You un-mute it: Tap the bell and un-mute, which is the next sub-section. 3 · It goes away and stays away: If a muted fire has not been the closest fire to your property for 30 days — because it was contained or no longer shows up in the fire data — the mute is removed automatically. And as with the hold: every fire you have not muted is treated completely normally, and manual start is never affected by either. UN-MUTE — Turn automatic activation back on for a muted fire. Tap the orange bell to see every fire you have muted and un-mute any of them. The app asks once more before it does, for the same reason as before: automatic activation for that fire resumes, and if it is inside your activation distance the sprinklers may start within about a minute. When you un-mute the last fire, the bell disappears. STARTING THE SYSTEM YOURSELF Three buttons, and the difference between them matters. START, START with FOAM, or Test Run START runs water only. START with FOAM adds Class A firefighting foam, which breaks the surface tension of the water so it soaks into timber and roofing instead of running off. Test Run is a short test — use it at the start of the season to check that every zone still sprays where it should. - Use foam when a fire is likely to reach you. Use water alone to wet things down as a precaution. - Test Run is the right way to check the system. It is not a shortened real activation. - Anything you start manually can be stopped from the same screen. Doing the same things at the controller No app or signal needed. Two buttons and a switch cover a test run, a full activation, and a way to stop everything. Zones and schedules stay in the app. - A single press on either button only wakes the screen. It can never start the system. - The two buttons start test runs; the switch starts a real activation. - Hold both buttons together for three seconds and everything stops, whatever it was doing. EVERY BUTTON AND COMBINATION ON THE CONTROLLER Left button — One press Wakes the screen. Nothing else — a single press can never start the system. (Any time) Left button — Two quick presses Test run, water only. Runs through your zones so you can check that every sprinkler head sprays, without using foam. (READY only) Right button — One press Wakes the screen. (Any time) Right button — Two quick presses Test run with foam. The same test as the left button, with foam mixed in. (READY only) OFF / ON switch — Turn to ON Starts a full activation, using whatever foam and zone settings you have saved in the app. (Any time) OFF / ON switch — Turn to OFF Stops the system and closes the valves. (While running) Left button + switch — Hold the left button while turning the switch to ON Starts without foam, for this run only. Your saved setting is untouched. (Any time) Right button + switch — Hold the right button while turning the switch to ON Starts with foam and runs every zone, ignoring any zone scenario you have set. Use it when you want every zone to run, no matter which zones are selected. (Any time) Both buttons — Hold the left and right buttons together for three seconds Emergency stop. Whatever is running stops. Use this when you need the water off fast. (Any time) Both buttons, again — Hold both together for three seconds a second time, within thirty seconds of the first Emergency stop and restart. The controller closes the main valve, saves its log, and reboots itself. Use it only if the first hold did not stop the system. After the restart, it turns back on and returns to READY by itself. (Within 30 seconds of an emergency stop) CHOOSING WHICH ZONES RUN Send the water where the fire actually is. Set the zones for the next start Your system waters every zone by default, one after another, because no household water supply can feed a whole property at once. When the danger is on one side — a neighbor’s house on fire, or wind blowing embers over one fence — you can send all the water to that side instead. - Only the next start: the selection is used once, then reverts to your default. - Make it the default: every future start, manual and automatic, uses the new selection. - Fewer zones means more pressure and a longer soak on the zones you chose. SCHEDULING A START Have the system start on its own after an amount of time you choose. Start on its own after a set time Tap Schedule and set days, hours and minutes. The system will start on its own when that countdown runs out, with or without foam, using whichever zones you have selected. This is what you use when you are evacuating tonight and want the property wet before the fire is expected to arrive. - The app confirms in plain words — "Starts in 2 hours" — so a mis-set number is obvious. - Choose foam at the same time as the schedule. - A schedule can be canceled from the same screen at any point before it runs. A closer fire takes priority A schedule never holds the system back. If a wildfire comes within your activation distance before the scheduled time, automatic activation takes over and starts the system sooner. THE FIRE MAP The same fire information the controller uses. Fires, wind and your activation ring The map tab shows active fires as flame markers, wind as directional streaks across the terrain, and your property as the FireShield badge. Zoom in and your activation distance appears as a dashed ring around the house — if a fire comes inside this ring, the system starts on its own. - The layers button, top right, switches the base map and what is drawn over it. - Pinch to zoom. The fire markers grow as you zoom in. - This is the same fire data the automatic decision is made from. Nothing is hidden. ALERTS AND MESSAGES What the system tells you, and where to read it again. Push notifications The app sends a push notification when a fire crosses your activation distance and the countdown to spraying begins. When you get it, open the app to start the system right away, or to stop it if you can see the alert is not a threat to your property. - Allow notifications when the app asks. It is the only way the system can reach you before it acts. - Alerts also cover system events such as a device losing connectivity. Re-read anything in Messages The bell icon in the bottom bar opens Messages, which keeps a history of what the system has told you. You can read any important message again later. SETTINGS, ONE SCREEN AT A TIME Every option behind the menu button, in the order the app lists them. Opening Settings Tap the menu button — the three lines at the top right of the home screen — to open Settings. There are nine options, grouped under three headings: Account, FireShield Controller, and Community Safety. They are numbered below in the order the app lists them, and each one has its own section on this page. Update Personal Info Your name and the mobile number the system calls and texts. This is the number a fire alert goes to, so check it once a year — if your number changes and you do not update it here, you will miss warnings. Change what you need and tap Save Changes; Cancel leaves everything as it was. Change Account Password Type your current password once and the new one twice. The eye icon at the end of each field shows what you have typed, which is the fastest way to find a typo. Nothing changes until you tap Update. General Settings Two items and the app version. Logout signs you out of this phone — the system keeps running and keeps protecting the house either way. Account changes holds one option, Delete account, which removes your account and your access to the controllers on it. Read it carefully before you tap it. Add Property or Controller First decide whether you are adding a new property or another controller at a property you already have. Add Property takes the address, a nickname you will recognize in the app, then the controller details. Add Controller to Existing Property skips straight to the controller: pick the property from the list, name the controller, and enter the Device ID from your installer. Both forms end with the automatic activation settings. - The Device ID comes from whoever installed the system. It is printed on the controller paperwork, not on the app. - Give each controller a simple nickname — Main House, Guest House, Barn. Edit or Remove Controller Choose the property, then the controller, and the Edit and Delete buttons become available. Edit opens everything the app knows about that controller — address, nickname, Device ID, and the automatic activation distance and delay — and nothing is saved until you tap Update. Delete removes the controller from your account. - Both buttons stay grayed out until you pick a property and a device. This is on purpose. - This is where you change your automatic activation distance and delay after installation. Zone Scenarios A scenario is a named set of zones to water instead of all of them — the east side, the roof line, whatever fits your property. Tap New scenario, give it a name, then pick a zone and tap Add for each one you want; the zones you have chosen are listed underneath. Saved scenarios can be edited with the pencil or deleted with the trash can, and removing one never changes anything on the controller itself. - A scenario is a shortcut, not a restriction. You can still pick different zones for a single start from the device screen. - Name them by area, not by zone number: “Roof and east side” is clearer than “Zones 2 and 3”. Default zone scenario This is the one that matters most, because it is what runs when no one picks zones: every start, manual or automatic, waters these zones unless you pick different ones for that single start. All zones is the safe default and the one we recommend unless you have a reason. Tap Manage to go to Zone Scenarios if you need to create the set first. - Automatic activation uses this. If you narrow it, you are narrowing what happens while you are away. WiFi Credentials Update If you change your router, your internet provider, or your Wi-Fi password, update the controller here. Choose the property and the device, tap Edit, and enter the network name and password. The controller keeps working on its cellular link while it reconnects. - The network name is case sensitive, and the eye icon lets you check the password before you save. Invite Neighbors and Friends Under Community Safety. It opens a message on your phone with the invitation already written, so you only pick who it goes to. Wildfire threatens a whole neighborhood, not just one house — a protected home between two unprotected ones is at greater risk. --- ## FireShield Controller Manual (https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/fireshield-controller-manual) ### Parts of the controller 1. Antenna: Cellular and satellite link. 2. Sun hood: Keeps the screen readable in daylight. 3. Status screen: The same reading as the app. 4. Left button: Wake · test run without foam. 5. Right button: Wake · test run with foam. 6. OFF / ON switch: Starts and stops the system. ### Status words on the screen - READY: Armed and waiting. Valves closed, nothing running. - PENDING: Something has asked the system to start. - ACTIVE: Running a full activation, with foam. - NOFOAM: Running a full activation, water only. No foam is being used. - TEST: A test run, with foam. Three loops through the zones, then it stops by itself. - TESTNF: A test run without foam — the same test, water only. - ENDING: Closing the valves and draining the lines. Not a fault; it settles back to READY on its own. - UPDATE: Downloading new settings from your account — zones, distance, delay, schedule. - UPGRADE: Installing new controller firmware. - RESET: A restart is about to happen. The controller usually reboots within twenty to thirty seconds of showing this, then comes back to READY on its own. ### Buttons and switch - Left button, One press: Wakes the screen. Nothing else — a single press can never start the system. (Any time) - Left button, Two quick presses: Test run, water only. Runs through your zones so you can check that every sprinkler head sprays, without using foam. (READY only) - Right button, One press: Wakes the screen. (Any time) - Right button, Two quick presses: Test run with foam. The same test as the left button, with foam mixed in. (READY only) - OFF / ON switch, Turn to ON: Starts a full activation, using whatever foam and zone settings you have saved in the app. (Any time) - OFF / ON switch, Turn to OFF: Stops the system and closes the valves. (While running) - Left button + switch, Hold the left button while turning the switch to ON: Starts without foam, for this run only. Your saved setting is untouched. (Any time) - Right button + switch, Hold the right button while turning the switch to ON: Starts with foam and runs every zone, ignoring any zone scenario you have set. Use it when you want every zone to run, no matter which zones are selected. (Any time) - Both buttons, Hold the left and right buttons together for three seconds: Emergency stop. Whatever is running stops. Use this when you need the water off fast. (Any time) - Both buttons, again, Hold both together for three seconds a second time, within thirty seconds of the first: Emergency stop and restart. The controller closes the main valve, saves its log, and reboots itself. Use it only if the first hold did not stop the system. After the restart, it turns back on and returns to READY by itself. (Within 30 seconds of an emergency stop) ### Timing - A press counts as a tap: under about eight tenths of a second - Time between the two presses of a double press: under half a second - Switch response: slow on purpose, so a bump cannot start the system --- ## FireShield vs the competition: which one is better? (https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/fireshield-vs-the-competition) Both are automated exterior wildfire defense systems. Both wet your roof and the ground around it before embers arrive. The difference is how much control you have. ### Set for your house, not one size fits all How close does a fire have to get, and how long does it wait before spraying? FireShield: Set by your technician at installation, for your house. A dense neighborhood gets a shorter distance and a different delay than a canyon or a lot facing open brush. You can also change it in the app if you want. The competition, as published: A fixed seven-mile trigger and a fixed ten-minute countdown. You cannot change them in the app. - If your system starts too early, it can use up your pool water before the fire gets close. - The same fixed settings for every house cannot account for whether yours is on a flat suburban street or at the top of a canyon. - Even if starting too early does not use up your water, it can use up your firefighting foam. ### Which technology do you trust to automatically activate your system? Where does that distance number actually come from? FireShield: Full-resolution fire perimeters — the same detail the agencies publish and the same detail Watch Duty draws. The distance is measured to the real edge of the burn. The competition, as published: The competition’s fire outline appears simplified: the same fire, with the detail taken out. Seen twice now, on the Sandy Fire (May 2026) and again on the Bryson Fire above Malibu (October 2026). Starting, or failing to start, because of a simplified outline can be a disaster. - Activates late — the simplified edge sits further away than the fire really is, so the countdown starts after it should have. - Activates early — the simplified edge sticks out toward your house, the system runs for a fire that was never close, and the water is used up. - Does not activate — if the outline is simplified enough, it never comes within your activation distance. - Shows you the wrong picture — you open the app to decide what to do, and the map does not show the fire's real shape. ### Water the side that is burning, not the whole property Your neighbor's house is on fire and the wind is blowing toward one side of your property. Where does the water go? FireShield: Send water to one side of your house. Choose the zones for the next start only (it goes back to normal afterward), or make your choice the default for every start, manual and automatic. Running fewer zones gives more pressure and makes the water last longer where you need it. The competition, as published: Does not offer a way to choose which zones run. As far as we know, no other company offers zone selection. - Every system of this kind runs in zones — no household supply can feed a whole property at once. - The question is who picks the zones, and how late they can still change them. - Up to 36 zones on a single controller, and more than one controller on a single property. ### Schedule it to start before you leave You are evacuating, and you want to activate in 2 hours. Can you schedule it before you go? FireShield: Tell it to start on its own in a set number of days, hours or minutes, with or without foam, so the property is already wet by the time you expect the fire to arrive. The competition, as published: Manual start and remote control from their app are published. A future-dated schedule is not. - If you leave, you may not get a chance to activate later while on the road. Schedule it now, and it will start at the time you set, whether you are there or not. - A schedule never delays protection. If a wildfire comes within your activation distance first, automatic activation takes over and starts sooner. ### STOP does not mean stop and forget You disagree with it and press STOP. What happens sixty seconds later? FireShield: When you stop an automatic activation, the system records how far away that fire was. It keeps watching that fire, and if the fire moves toward your house, it will start again. The competition, as published: Overriding an activation is published. What happens on the next check is not. If the same fire starts moving again a few hours later, they do not say what will happen. - A different fire is handled on its own. Stopping for one fire does not affect a new one. - If that fire gets to half the distance it was, or one mile closer, whichever comes first, automatic start turns back on. - The hold ends after 24 hours no matter what, so a fire that stays nearby cannot leave automatic start off forever. - You can cancel the hold yourself; the app explains what that means first. A short data error cannot cancel it. ### Mute silences one fire, not your protection Can you silence one irrelevant fire without switching your protection off? FireShield: Muting silences one fire you have already checked. Automatic activation stays on for every other fire. If any fire starts moving toward your house, the system will still act. The competition, as published: Not published. The usual alternative is turning automatic activation off — and then a new fire starts two miles away at three in the morning and nothing happens. - A muted fire is un-muted automatically if it gets closer, using the same distance rule as the hold. - Or the moment you un-mute it, from the list of everything you have muted. - Or after 30 days in which it has not been the closest fire to you, so a mute you forgot about does not last forever. - A closer fire takes priority. The app is designed so that nothing you tap switches off automatic activation for a fire that is actually coming. ### Built to sit in the heat for years and still work like new What runs the controller on your wall? FireShield: Built-in firmware on solid-state electronics. No fan, no startup wait, and no extra software between the decision and the valve. Shut-off valves keep the valve manifolds free of water pressure while it waits. The competition, as published: A computerized controller with remote access is published. The control architecture is not described in detail, and pressure-isolated standby is not described. - A fan is a moving part, an air path for dust, and the first thing to fail in a hot enclosure. - An operating system is something that can update itself at the wrong moment. - Years of standing pressure is what ages joints and fittings. - The controller has its own screen, two buttons and a switch, so a test run, a full activation and an emergency stop all work with no phone and no signal. ### Nothing is hidden behind a status light Can you see what the system is seeing? FireShield: The same fire map the controller is deciding from — live perimeters, wind direction and speed at your home, and your activation distance drawn as a ring around the house. The competition, as published: An app with wildfire tracking and alerts is published. The data behind the decision is not shown at the same resolution. - Every indicator on the device screen is numbered and explained, including the ones shown in gray. - The wind on the map is animated, because a still picture cannot show it. ### Side by side - Can I choose how close a fire has to get? FireShield: Yes. Your technician sets it for your house at installation: tighter in a dense neighborhood, wider by a canyon or open brush. You can also change it in the app if you want, but it's already set by our technician. The competition, as published: Published as a fixed seven miles. No owner-set distance is published. - Can I choose how long it waits before spraying? FireShield: Yes. Your technician sets it for your house at installation. You can also change it if you want to. The competition, as published: Published as a fixed ten-minute countdown. You can start it early or override it; the ten minutes itself is not adjustable. - Can I turn the automatic part off and still use it by hand? FireShield: Yes. Disarm automatic activation, keep manual start. The competition, as published: Manual start and full remote control are published. Whether automatic can be disarmed separately is not. - If I stop it, does it stay stopped? FireShield: Yes. It records which fire you declined, so the decision holds for that fire — and only that one. The competition, as published: You can override an activation. What happens on the next check is not published. - Can I dismiss one particular fire without switching everything off? FireShield: Yes. Mute that one fire. Every other fire still arms your system exactly as before. The competition, as published: Not published. The usual alternative is turning automatic activation off — which leaves you unprotected against the next one. - If I dismiss a fire and it starts moving towards me, what then? FireShield: It undoes itself. If that fire closes to half the distance, or a mile nearer, the mute is canceled and automatic start turns back on, with a new alert. The competition, as published: Not published. - Can I water just the side that is threatened? FireShield: Yes. Pick the zones for the next start only, or make that your new default. Fewer zones means more pressure and more water where you need it. The competition, as published: Runs zones in sequence to manage the water supply. Owner-chosen zones for a single run are not published. - Can I choose foam or plain water for this particular run? FireShield: Yes, per start — including on a start you scheduled in advance. The competition, as published: Class A foam is part of the system and is U.S. Forest Service approved. A per-run choice is not published. - What happens when the street loses water pressure? FireShield: The controller brings in your pool, tank or well when mains pressure is not enough and the system is actually running. The competition, as published: Switches to a secondary source — pool, tank or well — when it senses a pressure drop. - Can I test it without pretending there is a fire? FireShield: Yes — a Test Run button, separate from a real activation. The competition, as published: Manual activation is published; a distinct short test cycle is not. - Can I set it to start while I am away? FireShield: Yes. Days, hours or minutes ahead, with your foam and zone choices attached. The competition, as published: Manual start from the app at any time. A future-dated schedule is not published. - If I schedule it and a fire arrives sooner, am I stuck waiting? FireShield: No. A closer fire overrides the schedule and starts sooner — still using your countdown, so you still have time to cancel. The competition, as published: Not applicable — no published scheduling. - Does it show me which way the wind is blowing? FireShield: Yes. The map shows the actual wind moving across the area, so you can see whether the air between the fire and your house is moving towards you. The competition, as published: Publishes wildfire tracking and fire maps. A live wind map is not listed. - Does it tell me the conditions at my house? FireShield: Temperature, wind, humidity, rain chance, air quality and the forecast — for the property, not the nearest city. The competition, as published: Fire maps and alerts are published; per-property weather and air quality are not. - Can I see what the system itself is doing right now? FireShield: The app mirrors the controller: live water pressure, flow rate, which zone is running, time left, power source, and every connection. The competition, as published: Remote monitoring and system status through the app are published. - Can I use my own contractor? FireShield: Your own licensed contractor, or ours. The competition, as published: States that its crews install the system, and that licensed contractors in each state perform installations. - Does it still work with the power and the phone network down? FireShield: Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite, with battery backup and optional solar charging. The competition, as published: Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite, with a dedicated backup battery. - Can it grow with the property? FireShield: Up to 36 zones on a single controller, and more than one controller on a single property. The competition, as published: Systems are custom-designed per property. A published maximum is not stated. - How many zones can it grow to? FireShield: Up to 36 zones on a single controller, and more than one controller on a single property. The competition, as published: Multiple zones supported; expansion beyond the standard build is not published as a single-controller capability. - Is the plumbing under pressure while it waits? FireShield: No. Isolation valves keep the manifolds unpressurized in standby, which is the point of the design. The competition, as published: Pressure monitoring is published; pressure-isolated standby is not described. - What is actually running the controller? FireShield: Pre-compiled firmware on solid-state electronics. No fan, no operating system, nothing to boot. The competition, as published: A computerized controller with remote access; the control architecture is not published in detail. - When does the pool pump run? FireShield: Only when city water pressure is too low and the system is running. The controller checks both. The competition, as published: Published as controlled by a pressure sensor and a variable-frequency drive (VFD). The competition column describes only what competing companies publish about their own systems. This page is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them. Specifications change; check anything decisive with each company directly. --- ## Why homeowners choose FireShield (https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/why-fireshield) ### What you only get with FireShield - Fully automated, zero touch. Set at installation, it starts on its own, even when nobody is home. The app controls are optional, never required. - Set for your house, not one size fits all. Your technician sets the distance and the countdown at installation for where you live: tighter in a dense neighborhood, wider near a canyon or open brush. You can also change them in the app if you want. Others use the same fixed numbers for every house. - Sends water only to the side facing the fire. Pick the zones for the next run, so water is not wasted on the safe side. - Stopping the system for one fire does not turn off your protection. Stop or mute applies to that fire only. Every other fire is still watched. - Turns itself back on if a stopped fire comes closer. Automatic start turns back on when that fire gets to half the distance, or one mile closer, whichever comes first. - Start it on a schedule. Before a red-flag day or before you leave. If a fire arrives sooner, it starts anyway. - Choose foam or plain water for each run. Save your foam for when it counts. - Run a quick test any time — no fire needed. Watch every head spray, from the button or the app. - Live wind map over your property. See where the wind will push the fire, next to the fire itself. - Weather and air quality at your house. Not just the region — your address. - No water pressure in the pipes while it waits. Nothing strains your fittings for years between runs. - No fan, no hard drive, no computer to crash. A solid-state controller running firmware that does one job. - Any size property: 36 zones per controller. Typical systems run 6 to 8. Add controllers for guest houses, garages, barns and acreage, all in one app. - Your own contractor can install it. Or our crews. ### Built better, detail by detail - Pump over-pressure is released automatically. If the pressure sensor or its cable fails, a relief valve opens, sends the water back to the pool, and resets itself. - Air is purged from the lines automatically. Cleaner fill and drain, less water hammer, longer-lasting plumbing. - An expansion tank absorbs pressure surges. Less strain on pipes, joints and the pump. - Water-hammer arrestors protect every joint. They absorb the shock each time a valve closes. - Fewer bends, shorter lines, copper pipe. Less pressure lost, and copper stands up to heat and sun. - One Los Angeles team from design to service. Designed, built, installed and serviced by the same local team. - 5-year warranty. On every FireShield system. ### Will it work when the fire comes — even if I am not home? - Turns on by itself when a fire gets close. It tracks every fire around your home 24/7. No one needs to be home or awake. - Gives you time to cancel before it starts. A countdown runs first. Do nothing, and it starts. - Ready the day it is installed. Distance and countdown are already set for your house by the technician. - Keeps working when the power goes out. Battery backup, solar optional. A standby generator can run the pump. - Stays online when cell towers and internet fail. Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite. If two go down, satellite remains. - Can start with no connection at all. Buttons on the controller, a remote trigger or an on-site detector. - Uses your pool, tank or well when street water runs out. It switches over when street pressure is not enough. - Adds firefighting foam to the water. Class A foam helps water soak in and stick to roofs, walls and plants. ### Will it protect my whole property? - Covers roof, eaves, walls and the ground around the house. Roof rotors, eave sprayers and perimeter heads, placed for your house. - Designed for your property, not a kit. We measure your water pressure and walk your property first — free. - Sprinkler heads hide in the ground when off. Pop-up rotors sit flush until they run. ### What will I see and control? - See pressure, flow and power live on your phone. Plus foam, pool and generator status. - See the fire and your activation distance on one map. Distance is measured to the real edge of the fire. - Physical buttons, not just an app. Test, test with foam, and emergency stop — right on the controller. ### Who stands behind it? - Help is nearby in fire season. No call center, no middleman. - We build all of it ourselves. Controller, software, fire data and app — so we can fix anything. - No commissioned salespeople. You talk to the people who design and install it. - Your system keeps getting better. We put our earnings back into research and development. ### Is it worth the money? - Lower priced because we keep our costs low, not because we cut corners. Local team, in-house technology, no sales commissions. - Free inspection before you commit. We measure your water pressure and walk the property. - A quote built for your home. Your zones, your water source, the subscription itemized. ### Will it help with my insurance? - Paperwork ready for your insurer. Documentation you can share comes with every installation. - Shows your home has active fire protection. Insurers look at how homes are protected from wildfire. --- ## Off-Grid Pool Package (https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/off-grid-pool) Wildfire protection that keeps pumping when the grid goes down. A specialized, efficient pump system that draws from your pool and feeds the roof zones at full design pressure, with no generator, no inverter and no grid power. Designed and manufactured by FireShield. Available exclusively from FireShield. What you do not need: solar power, battery wall, generator, unlimited budget. A complete FireShield system, engineered for the property, installed and serviced by FireShield, tied into the FireShield controller and app. Why it matters: Malibu already runs on low water pressure, and pressure drops further during a fire, so FireShield pumps from the pool. Southern California Edison, PG&E and other utilities now shut power off on purpose during high wind and high fire risk, and LADWP has said it may; these public safety shutoffs can last days. During the Bryson Fire above Malibu (October 2026) parts of the city were already without power under a shutoff before the fire started, and stayed dark for days after. A regular pump wired to the house, which is what the competition installs, stops with the grid; the only way around it is a generator, which costs money and maintenance to keep ready and often does not start when needed. How FireShield keeps pumping: the package runs from the FireShield Power Hub (a specialized FireShield power unit, sized for the property), makes itself ready from the pool with no hand priming, feeds the FireShield zones at the pressure they were designed for, and keeps going for 6, 8, 10 or 16 hours depending on pool capacity, whichever runs out first, water or Power Hub. Parts: FireShield Pump Controller (soft start, watches the Power Hub, clean shutdown), FireShield Sequencer (runs every start in order, confirms water, recovers if the line loses water, weekly self-test, status reporting; built in-house), FireShield Intake Module (ready from an empty line, debris protection). An overnight run at full flow takes roughly 12 to 20 kWh from the Power Hub. Exact sizing comes from a FireShield site visit; pricing on request. Reserve yours on the page: name, email, phone, address; limited units available. - Does it need a generator or inverter? No. It runs directly from the FireShield Power Hub. - How long will it run? Until the water or the FireShield Power Hub runs out, whichever comes first. For most pools, that is a full night. FireShield works the numbers for your property. - How do I know it will work when I need it? The FireShield Sequencer runs a short test every week and reports to your FireShield system. - What does it cost? It depends on the pool, the bank and the site. Contact FireShield for a design and a quote. --- ## Pricing (https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/pricing) FireShield is more competitively priced because of how it is built and run: - One in-house team, headquartered in Los Angeles and serving every state, designs, builds and supports it, with no regional middlemen. - Everything is in-house (the controller, the plumbing design, our online servers, the system that collects fire data, and the app), so there are no third-party platform fees to pass on every month. - No high-commission sales force; you talk to the people who design and install the system. - Efficient by design: solid-state, no fan, no operating system, very low power draw; one controller platform runs up to 36 zones each, and estates add controllers, so the same hardware serves a cottage or a multi-building estate with no size limit. - What would otherwise go to overhead goes into research and development. - Mission: make advanced wildfire defense available to every homeowner who needs it. - 5-year warranty. An annual subscription covers monitoring, live fire data and connectivity, itemized in the quote. Designed for straightforward installation by any licensed contractor, including the owner's own. - Other systems in this category are designed or manufactured elsewhere, some overseas, and install through regional contractor or installer networks; FireShield is one national company with the same engineers behind every system. - Every system is designed for its property; the inspection is free and a personalized quote follows. --- ## System specs (https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/system-specs) - 16–20 GPM per line: Each zone line is designed for about 16 to 20 gallons per minute — enough to wet a roof edge or a side of the house, small enough that a household supply or a pool pump can keep up. - 1-inch pipe, copper preferred: One-inch lines, copper where we can. Copper holds up to radiant heat and UV far better than plastic on an exterior wall. - Backflow preventer: Keeps system water, and any foam, out of your drinking water. Required on every connection to the street supply. - Pressure regulator: Holds the system at its design pressure so sprinkler heads spray where they were aimed and fittings are not over-stressed. - Water-hammer arrestor: Absorbs the pressure spike when a valve closes, protecting joints and the controller’s valves. - Booster pump (optional): Where street pressure is low, a booster brings it up to the design pressure before it reaches the zones. - Pool or tank pump: Default: 3 HP, three-phase, driven by a variable-frequency drive (VFD) sized to the motor’s amperage, on its own dedicated circuit. The VFD starts the motor gently and holds pressure steady as zones change. - Auto-reset pressure relief valve: Every pool or tank pump also gets a mechanical relief valve. A pressure sensor alone is not enough: if its cable to the drive is cut, faulty or shorted, the drive cannot tell it should stop and the pump keeps pushing. The valve opens on its own, sends the excess back to the pool so no water is lost, and resets itself. - Air purge valves: Let trapped air out of the lines automatically, so the system fills and drains cleanly, water hammer is reduced and the plumbing lasts longer. - Expansion tank: Absorbs pressure surges and expansion in the system, taking strain off pipes, joints and the pump. - Class A firefighting foam: Injected into the line at 0.1–1.0 %. For wetting a structure the usual setting is 0.5–1.0 %; at 0.5 %, one gallon of concentrate treats 200 gallons of water. ### Rotor: 4-inch stainless-steel pop-up rotor with check valve (1-inch inlet, 25° trajectory) - ≈10 GPM nozzle: 50 PSI → 49 ft, 10.3 GPM; 60 PSI → 50 ft, 11.3 GPM; 70 PSI → 51 ft, 12.2 GPM; 80 PSI → 51 ft, 13 GPM. Runs from 50 PSI. Use where pressure is modest or several rotors share a line. - ≈20 GPM nozzle: 60 PSI → 62 ft, 21.3 GPM; 70 PSI → 64 ft, 23 GPM; 80 PSI → 65 ft, 24.5 GPM. Needs at least 60 PSI at the rotor; not rated at 50 PSI. Longest throw, one rotor per line. ### Main house and guest house, 5,400 sq ft, 9 zones - Zones 1–4: Eave sprayers, 40 (10 per zone), 20 GPM per zone (≈2 GPM per sprayer) - Zones 5–9: Roof and ground rotors, 5 (1 per zone), ≈10–13 GPM (≈10 GPM nozzle) or 21–25 GPM (≈20 GPM nozzle, 60 PSI+) - Ten eave sprayers share one line at 20 GPM, so a single zone wets a full run of eaves. - Each rotor has its own zone, so its pressure never has to be shared. - A water-hammer arrestor sits on the supply; backflow preventer and regulator at the connection. - Zones run as many at once as the water pressure supports (on most homes, one at a time, in sequence), or you choose the ones facing the fire for the next start — the water goes where it is needed instead of everywhere at once. - Pipe loss: 1-inch copper at 20 GPM loses about 0.1 PSI per 100 ft; each foot of height costs 0.433 PSI. ### Pool runtime at 20 GPM (one zone) - 10,000 gallons: 8 h 20 min - 15,000 gallons: 12 h 30 min - 20,000 gallons: 16 h 40 min - 25,000 gallons: 20 h 50 min - 30,000 gallons: 25 h 00 min - Class A foam at 0.5 %: one gallon of concentrate treats 200 gallons of water; a 50-gallon supply lasts 8 h 20 min at 20 GPM (on most homes one zone runs at a time; the controller runs as many as the water pressure supports). Class A foam is used at 0.1–1.0 %; 2 % is not a Class A foam rate. ### The worst day - Grid down: The controller, its valves and its communications are designed to run on the battery (solar top-up optional). The pool or tank pump is a 3 HP motor and needs the grid or a standby generator; size it with your electrician (a generator in the 10 kW class is typical for this pump with a VFD). Or choose the FireShield Off-Grid Pool Package, which runs the pump from the FireShield Power Hub with no generator, no inverter and no grid. - Cell network down: Wi-Fi and satellite remain, and a button on the controller, a remote trigger or an on-site detector can start it locally without any network. - Street water gone: The controller is designed to bring in the pool, tank or well when mains pressure is not enough and the system is running — which is why the pump’s power source matters. - 110 °F, windy, and nobody home: The controller is solid-state, has no fan and runs only firmware; the valve manifolds have no water pressure until the system runs. Wind shortens how far the water sprays, so we aim the heads into the usual fire-season wind, and you can choose zones to put the water on the side facing the fire. --- ## Articles ### Future of Wildfire: Predictive Models https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/future-of-wildfire-predictive-models Our research: FireShield PWHA forecasts where a wildfire will be over the next six hours, updated every minute. We tested it on the 2025 Palisades Fire. Red is the forecast fire line. Blue is where the fire really was. This is research, not a warning service. Do not rely on it to decide when to leave. Always follow your local fire department, law enforcement and official evacuation orders. Every wildfire asks the same question: where is it going next? FireShield PWHA, short for Probabilistic Wildfire Hazard Analysis, is our research into that question. It uses established fire-behavior science and hazard methods to estimate where a fire will be over the next six hours, which way it is heading and how fast, and it redoes that forecast every minute. What it reads FireShield PWHA stacks together every relevant source it can get: what there is to burn, the shape of the land, how long since the area last burned, humidity and fuel moisture, the wind now and the wind ahead, the fire itself as satellites see it, and the firefighting lines and roads on the ground. It reads all of it for every spot on the map. Every relevant source, one forecast. The method PWHA follows the probabilistic hazard approach engineers use to design for earthquakes, applied to wildfire. It runs about a hundred fire simulations side by side, each with slightly different wind, fuel and ember assumptions, using the standard U.S. Forest Service fire-spread model. It then aggregates them into the probability that each spot burns in the next few hours. Satellite heat and mapped fire lines adjust the weights every minute. Tested on a real fire We replayed the January 2025 Palisades Fire minute by minute, giving the system only what was known at each moment. Here is the forecast against what really happened. Overnight: the forecast reaches west ahead of the fire. The next morning. The replay, minute by minute. Where this research is heading The goal is hours of warning instead of minutes. FireShield PWHA is FireShield research, protected by our patent. It is not a public warning or evacuation service, and no forecast can promise what a fire will do. Do not rely on it: always listen to your local fire authorities. See Future of Wildfire: Predictive Models ### Malibu Bryson Fire: Which Fire Map Would You Trust to Activate Your System? https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/malibu-fire-which-map-would-you-trust Two wildfire-defense apps, the same minute of the Bryson Fire in Malibu, California, and an independent fire map to check them against. FireShield 9:25 p.m. VS Another company 9:25 p.m. Same fire, same minute: the Bryson Fire in Malibu, California, at about 9:25 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. Both apps listed it at 101.5 acres. The short version - At about 9:25 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, we captured two wildfire-defense apps showing the Bryson Fire in Malibu, California. Both listed it at 101.5 acres. - FireShield drew the burned area as a detailed outline that follows the ridges and canyons along Encinal Canyon Road. - Another wildfire-defense company’s app drew it as a four-cornered shape with straight sides. - Watch Duty, a nonprofit fire-alert app, showed the fire one minute earlier. Its outline has the same shape as FireShield’s. - At a FireShield customer’s home near the Malibu fire, the system had already started on its own. An automatic wildfire defense system has one job that matters more than any other: deciding when to start. It makes that decision from its picture of the fire. That picture is the map. So when the Bryson Fire broke out in the Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu, California, on Thursday evening, we opened two wildfire-defense apps at the same minute and compared what each one showed. The check: an independent Malibu fire map To see which picture matched the fire, we checked a third app that isn’t trying to sell anyone a sprinkler system. Watch Duty is a nonprofit wildfire-alert app that many Californians already use during fires. Watch Duty · 9:24 p.m. · the independent reference Watch Duty showed the Malibu fire at 101.5 acres, with the same detailed outline running from near Malibu Golf Club up toward the ridge. Its shape matches the one in the FireShield app. Why the shape matters FireShield starts on its own when a fire comes within the activation distance you set, and then waits out the delay you choose. That distance is measured against the fire as the system sees it. A fire’s edge isn’t a neat polygon. It runs up canyons and along ridges, and that is how it gets close to houses. The more closely the map follows the real edge, the more reliable the start decision is. A FireShield home near the Malibu fire The FireShield screenshot above is from a customer’s phone. The banner reads “SYSTEM ACTIVE — Main House. Automatically activated.” No one pressed start: the system started on its own. The red STOP button stays on screen, so the owner can shut it off from the phone at any time. What a screenshot can and can’t tell you These are three screens captured at one moment. Apps refresh their maps at different times and open at different zoom levels, so a single capture isn’t a full test. What it does show is the picture each app was giving its user at that minute, while the fire was growing. For the latest on the fire itself, including evacuation zones and shelters, see our Bryson Fire news coverage. What to ask - Where does your app’s fire outline come from, and how often does it update? - Does automatic activation measure distance to the fire’s edge, or to a single point? - Can I see the same map the system uses to decide when to start? - Can I set the activation distance and the delay myself? - Can I stop a running system from my phone, wherever I am? FireShield makes one of the apps shown. Screenshots are shown exactly as captured, without cropping or editing. Watch Duty is not affiliated with FireShield and did not review this article. The customer’s name and address are withheld. ### Schedule Your Activation Before You Leave https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/start-it-before-you-leave You can set FireShield to start at a time you choose, so your house is wet before a fire gets close. Water on the roof of a house as the owner drives away. The short version - You can set FireShield to start on its own at a time you choose. - At the same time, you can choose foam or water and which zones it runs. - A schedule never delays protection. If a fire comes within your activation distance first, the normal automatic start takes over and the system starts sooner. - When that happens, the system still waits out your usual delay before it sprays, so you still have time to check the alert. - An old schedule clears itself, so it never gets in the way. Schedule a start in the FireShield app: pick the days, hours and minutes, choose foam or water, and go. Wildfires don't wait for a good time. A warning can come in the middle of the night, or a fire can start while you're away from home. The goal is to get the house wet before the fire arrives. Wetting the roof, eaves and the ground around the house takes time, so it's better to start before the fire gets close. Set it and go In the FireShield app you can schedule a start for a set number of days, hours and minutes from now. Set it, choose whether that run uses foam, and leave. If you want, you can also pick which zones the scheduled run waters; otherwise it runs all of them. The app shows the start time in plain words, such as "Starts in 2 hours," so a wrong number is easy to spot before you put your phone away. It is useful in situations like these: - Red flag warning. Set it to start before the high winds arrive. - Evacuation. Set a start time and leave. - Away from home. Set it from your phone, even days ahead. A schedule can never delay protection What if you schedule a start for later and a fire comes within your activation distance first? The system doesn't wait for your schedule. Automatic activation keeps working while a schedule is set. Whichever comes first, the schedule or the fire, starts the system. The delay still applies When a fire takes over from your schedule, the system does not spray right away. It still waits out the delay you have set for automatic activation, so you have time to look at the alert and decide what to do. Old schedules clear themselves Once a schedule's time has passed, or the system is already running, the schedule clears itself, so an old schedule never gets in the way. The rule to remember: a schedule can only move the start time forward. It can never make your house wait for a fire. What to ask - Can I set the system to start at a future time, without being there? - If a fire arrives before my scheduled time, what happens? - Can I choose foam or water for a scheduled run, and which zones? - If a schedule is missed or the system is already running, does it clean itself up? You can also start the system by hand from the app anytime. A scheduled start covers the times you can't. ### Mute One Fire Without Turning Off Your Protection https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/tell-one-fire-to-leave-you-alone FireShield lets you mute one fire that isn't a threat, while every other fire can still start your system. Several fires on a map, with one of them muted. The short version - A fire can stay near you for days without being a threat. Turning off automatic activation to stop the alerts would leave you unprotected if a new fire starts. - FireShield lets you mute one fire. Every other fire is still treated normally and is designed to start your system. - If a muted fire moves much closer, the mute ends and that fire can start your system again. - A muted fire that hasn't been your nearest fire for thirty days is cleared automatically. - If you're comparing systems, ask whether you can mute one fire without turning off protection against all the others. A muted fire in the FireShield app: the system keeps watching every other fire, and you can un-mute it with one tap. Sometimes a fire burns near your house for days without moving toward you. Your phone keeps alerting you about it, and if its mapped edge shifts a little, it could start your system. You can see it isn't coming your way, but the system only knows how far away it is. On most systems, your only options are to live with the alerts or turn automatic activation off. Turning it off is risky. If a new fire starts nearby while it's off, the system won't start on its own. Mute one fire FireShield lets you mute one fire. It doesn't turn off alerts in general or automatic activation. From then on, that fire won't start your system. Every other fire still will. FireShield uses the fire agency's official ID for that fire, so the mute keeps working even if the fire grows, changes shape or gets renamed. What happens if a muted fire moves closer A mute that lasted forever would be risky, because the fire could move later. FireShield remembers how far away the fire was when you muted it. If the fire gets one mile closer, or reaches half that distance, whichever happens first, the mute ends and that fire can start your system again. You also get a new alert. For example, if you muted a fire at eight miles, the mute ends at seven miles. If you muted it at one and a half miles, the mute ends at three quarters of a mile. You can mute one fire, and your system will still respond if that fire starts moving toward you. Old mutes are cleared automatically FireShield automatically clears any muted fire that hasn't been your nearest fire for thirty days. A mute is different from pressing Stop (see When You Press Stop, It Stays Stopped). A mute has no time limit of its own. It ends when the fire comes closer or no longer matters. Why this matters You often know things the system doesn't, like whether crews have a fire under control. Muting one fire lets you act on that without turning off your protection. Too many unnecessary alerts make people stop paying attention. Muting one fire keeps the alerts that matter. What to ask - Can I dismiss one specific fire and still keep the system protecting me against every other fire? - If I dismiss one, what brings it back, and is that automatic or do I have to remember? - How long does the dismissal last? - Does it go by the fire's official identifier, so it still works if the fire is renamed or grows? If the answer is "turn off automatic activation," that isn't the same thing. ### Why the App Shows the Wind https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/the-wind-is-on-your-screen-for-a-reason Distance tells you where a fire is. Wind helps show where it's going. The FireShield app shows both. Wind across the map, blowing from a fire toward a house. The short version - A fire's distance doesn't tell the whole story. A fire with the wind blowing toward you is very different from one with the wind blowing away. - The FireShield map shows the wind's direction and speed as moving streaks. - The app also shows the weather and forecast for your address: wind, humidity, temperature, rain chance and air quality. - What starts the system: distance and delay. Wind and weather help you decide; they don't change the activation distance on their own. - Wind-aware hazard analysis is described in our patent. The live map in the FireShield app, with the wind moving across it. Most fire apps show where fires are. They usually don't show the wind, which often decides where a fire goes next. Distance alone is not enough A fire with the wind blowing from it toward your house is much more dangerous, because wind carries embers far ahead of the flames, and embers are what usually set houses on fire. The same fire with the wind blowing the other way is something to keep an eye on. That's why the app shows the wind, not just the distance. What the map shows The FireShield map shows the wind across the whole map, not just one arrow. Moving streaks show which way the wind is blowing and how fast. That lets you see whether the wind is blowing from a fire toward your house. The weather is for your address The home screen shows today's weather for your address: temperature, wind, rain chance, humidity and air quality, plus the forecast. Humidity matters because dry air dries out brush and grass, which helps fires spread. Low humidity with strong wind is the most dangerous combination. A rising air quality number usually means smoke is already reaching you. What the wind does not do FireShield's automatic start is based on distance. When a fire comes within your activation distance (how close a fire has to get), the delay counts down and the system starts. Wind and humidity don't change that distance on their own. If you want, wind and weather can help you decide whether to start the system early or which zones to run. You don't have to. The system runs automatically either way. Our patent describes hazard analysis that combines wind direction, fuel condition, terrain and fire location into a per-property risk assessment — directly connecting that analysis to physical actuation. That is the direction this is going. It is not what ships in the trigger today, and we are not going to describe a filing as a feature. The wind and weather are there to help you decide. How to use it, if you want to - Look at the wind between the fire and your house, not just the distance. - Check the humidity. Dry air helps fires spread. - Pick zones based on the wind, if you like. By default every zone runs. - Widen your activation distance on a red flag day, if you want. The installer's setting works year-round. What to ask - Does the app show me wind direction and speed around my property, or only fire locations? - Is the weather for my address or the nearest city? - Does wind affect when the system starts? If the answer is yes, ask exactly how. Ask any company that question, including FireShield. For FireShield, the answer is no: distance starts the system, and the wind and weather in the app are there to help you decide. ### When You Press Stop, It Stays Stopped https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/when-you-press-stop-it-stays-stopped When you press Stop, FireShield stays stopped for that fire, while every other fire can still start the system. A hand on a control dial. The short version - An automatic system checks for fires every minute. If it isn't built carefully, the Stop you just pressed gets undone on the next check. - FireShield records which fire you stopped it for, so your STOP holds for that fire. - It applies to that fire only. A different fire is still treated normally and is designed to start the system. - If that fire gets one mile closer, or reaches half the distance, whichever comes first, your Stop ends and the system starts. - If the fire just sits nearby, your STOP ends after twenty-four hours. An automatic activation counting down in the FireShield app, with Activate Now and Stop. An automatic wildfire system checks for fires every minute. If a fire is inside your activation distance (how close a fire has to get before the system starts on its own), it starts. Say the system starts because a fire came within your activation distance, but you can see it isn't heading your way. You press Stop in the app, and the valves close. A minute later the system checks again. The fire is still inside your distance, so on many systems it starts again. Why a simple snooze isn't enough A simple fix is a snooze that ignores all fires for an hour. The problem is that it also ignores a new fire that starts close to your house during that hour. FireShield remembers which fire you stopped it for, how far away it was, and when. Your Stop applies to that fire only. Any other fire is still handled normally. Two ways your Stop ends Your Stop ends on its own in two ways: - The fire comes closer. If it gets one mile closer, or reaches half the distance, whichever happens first, the system starts again. For example, if you stopped it at 5.8 miles, it starts again at 4.8 miles. - Twenty-four hours pass. If the fire stays nearby, your Stop ends after a day. You don't have to remember to turn anything back on. If the fire data changes Fire data can change from minute to minute. Your Stop stays in place through those changes. It ends only when that fire comes closer or the twenty-four hours run out. If a system won't stay stopped, the STOP button doesn't really give you control. Stop, mute and schedule These are easy to mix up: - Stop stops the system for this fire, right now. It lasts up to twenty-four hours and ends early if the fire comes closer. - Mute sets one fire aside for longer. It ends if that fire comes closer. - Schedule works the other way: it starts the system at a time you choose. What to ask - If I stop an automatic activation, what keeps it from starting again a minute later? - Does stopping one fire still leave me protected against a different one? - What brings the system back if the fire I stopped it for starts moving toward me? - Do I have to remember to turn it back on? The last one matters most. During an evacuation, you shouldn't have to remember anything. ### Activation Distance and Delay, Set for Your House https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/you-pick-the-distance-you-pick-the-wait Your FireShield technician sets the activation distance and delay for your property. Other companies use one fixed setting for every home. Activation distance around a house. The short version - Two settings decide when the system turns on: how close a fire has to get (the activation distance), and how long the system waits after that before it starts spraying (the delay). - A FireShield technician sets both for your house at installation, typically starting from 6 miles and 9 minutes. You can also change them in the app if you want. - The two have to fit together. A wide distance with a short delay wastes water on fires that were never coming toward you, and a tight distance with a long delay starts too late. - The app reminds you of this on the settings screen, because it's easy to get wrong. - You can turn automatic activation off entirely and still start the system by hand. The Automatic Activation screen in the FireShield app: activation distance, delay, and the zones that run. Every automatic wildfire system has to decide when to turn on. FireShield sets that for your property, because the right numbers depend on your land. Other companies use one fixed distance and countdown for every home. Why the distance should fit your property The right activation distance depends on where your house is. On a hillside with dry brush and strong winds, a fire can move quickly, so you may want the system to start earlier. In a flat neighborhood with little brush nearby, a shorter distance means fewer activations that aren't needed and less water used. On FireShield, a technician sets the activation distance for your terrain at installation, and you can adjust it in the app if you want. Getting the delay right The delay is the time between a fire coming within your activation distance and the water turning on. It gives you a chance to check your phone and decide whether to let the system run. A delay that is too short and a delay that is too long both cause problems. Too short and you may not have time to check your phone and stop an activation that isn't needed. Too long and the fire may reach your house before the water starts. The two settings work together. Your delay should be comfortably shorter than the time a fire could take to cover your activation distance. The FireShield app says this on the settings screen, in red, right under the sliders: Match the delay to your activation distance: wait too long and the fire can reach the house before the system starts. How the right numbers are worked out Your installer looks at things like: - What is around your house? Brush, open land or other homes. - Is your house on a slope or near a canyon? Fire moves faster uphill. - Which way do strong winds usually come from? - How quickly could you check an alert? That helps decide the delay. They'll explain the numbers they choose. Change it if you want You can change the distance and delay in the app anytime, but you don't have to. The installer's setting works year-round. The same screen lets you choose which zones run during an automatic start (by default, all of them), or turn off automatic activation and start the system by hand instead. What to ask - At what distance does the system activate, and can I change it? - How long does it wait before spraying, and can I change that? - Can I change either one from my phone, or does it need a service visit? - If I turn automatic activation off, can I still start the system by hand? If a system uses the same fixed numbers for every home, those numbers weren't chosen for your property. ### One Controller Fits Every House https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/one-controller-fits-every-house A small house and a large estate use the same FireShield controller. The only difference is the settings stored on it. The FireShield family: Main Hub, Foam Hub, Zone Module, and the Defense Core controller. There is one design of each, and the size of a system is set by its settings, not by different parts. The short version - FireShield doesn't build a small system and a big system. It builds one system and sets it up for each house. - A single FireShield controller handles up to 36 zones. Many controllers of this type top out at around 6 to 8 zones each. - That matters because two controllers on one water supply don't know which zones the other is running, and they end up competing for the same water pressure. - Foam and extra manifold sections can be added later without redoing the wiring or the plumbing. Satellite comes standard, as a module that can be upgraded later. - If you're comparing systems, ask what changes if you add zones later. This article is about how the controller is built, because that affects what it can do for you later. The two ways to cover every size of house Some houses need a few zones and some need many. There are two ways to cover all of them. Build several models. A small, a medium and a large controller, each with its own parts and software. If you outgrow yours, you buy a different one. Build one, and set it up for each house. One circuit board, one enclosure and one version of the software. What changes from house to house is the settings: how many valves there are, how they're grouped into zones, and what order they run in. FireShield does the second one, and what that means for you as a homeowner is covered in a separate article. It's the first claim in FireShield's patent: the controller reads a configuration file at runtime and determines from it the number of valves, their grouping into zones, and the activation sequence — "independent of any modification of the executable firmware." Every FireShield controller is built the same. Only the settings change from house to house. What this means for you One spare part. When something needs replacing years from now, there's one part to stock, not an old model nobody carries anymore. One version of the software. Every FireShield controller runs the same software, so a fix tested on one works on all of them. A mistake is fixed with a setting. Installers care about this one most. If a valve is wired backwards or a run time is wrong, the fix is a setting change, not a new software release sent to a life-safety device. FireShield's patent is explicit that this "removes the delay and the risk of introduced defects that a firmware change to a life-safety device entails." Adding zones is simpler. New zones need their own valves and pipe, but not a new controller. The 36-zone number, and why it matters Here's a specific claim in FireShield's patent that's easy to skim past. A single FireShield controller can run up to 36 zones. For comparison, the patent notes that controllers of this general type conventionally manage on the order of 6 to 8 zones per device — which means a larger property needs several of them. The patent then explains why that's a problem, and it isn't about tidiness. Two separate controllers on one property don't know about each other. Each one only knows which of its own zones are open, and both draw on the same household water supply. So both open zones at the same time, and — in the patent's language — they "starve the discharge devices of the pressure required to operate." The FireShield Defense Core, open and closed. The number of zones it runs is a setting, not a different model. Neither controller is broken or badly made. They just don't know what the other one is doing, and they share the same water. A single FireShield controller knows about every zone and checks the water pressure, so it runs only as many zones at once as the pressure can support. If a property needs more than one controller, for example for separate buildings, FireShield controllers talk to each other so they don't run at the same time. The parts you add later The same idea applies to add-ons. Foam. A FireShield system can be installed without the foam assembly, with the port capped. Add it later and — per the patent — it goes on "without modification of the controller wiring, the firmware, or the fluid layout." Then foam is turned on in the settings. Satellite. The satellite radio comes standard. It's a separate module with its own processor, so it can be replaced with a newer one in a later version without redesigning the FireShield controller. That helps, because satellite technology changes quickly. More manifold. Another manifold section can be added at the end. Other equipment. FireShield can trigger other devices, like a siren, and accept signals from accessories, like a panic button or camera. Both are set up in the settings. Installed and running. Whether a house has a few zones or many, it's the same FireShield controller. Why this is about safety, not just manufacturing This isn't only about fewer parts and simpler inventory. The bigger reason is how little has to change when something needs fixing. A company with several models has many versions installed in homes, and a fix for one may not apply to another. FireShield has one design. Everything else is settings, which can be checked and corrected quickly. For a device that has to work correctly on one unpredictable day after years of sitting unused, that makes a real difference in reliability. What to ask before you sign QuestionWhy it matters How many zones on one controller?FireShield: up to 36. Ask how many zones one controller can run before a second one is needed. What if I add zones in two years?With FireShield it's new valves and pipe plus a settings change, not a new controller. If I need two controllers, do they coordinate?FireShield controllers talk to each other so they don't compete for one water supply. Can I add foam later?FireShield caps the port at installation and adds foam later, with no rewiring or replumbing. Can the satellite hardware be upgraded?FireShield's comes standard and is a separate module that can be replaced without redesigning the controller. Ask FireShield and other companies these questions. Because FireShield builds one controller, a system can be corrected without a service visit, expanded without a new controller, and fixed the same way everywhere. Next in this series - The Setting You Can Change in Ten Seconds — The controller's settings, from the homeowner's side. - Why Wildfire Controllers Fail on the Hottest Day — The cooling fan and the computer, and why FireShield has neither. - Skip the Zones You Don't Need — Watering only part of your property, and why you might want to. - What Actually Has to Work When Nobody's Home — The whole system, start to finish, in plain English. About FireShield — FireShield builds automated exterior wildfire defense systems for homes across Southern California. The system described here is covered by FireShield's patent. See the wildfire defense system or talk to us. ### Skip the Zones You Don't Need https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/skip-the-zones-you-dont-need FireShield runs every zone automatically. If you want, you can choose which zones run, give one side more water, or save groups of zones. Spray coverage across one property. Each circle is a zone, and not every zone has to run. The short version - No house has enough water pressure to run every outdoor sprinkler at the same time, so every system runs zones in turn. - By default, every zone runs automatically. If you want, you can turn zones off, either in the settings or during a run. - You can also give a zone more water, with longer and more frequent turns, for the side of the house that needs it most. - You can save scenarios, such as roof only, exposed side or everything, and start one with a single tap. - If you're comparing systems, ask whether you can turn off a zone yourself while the system is running. Creating a zone scenario in the FireShield app: name it, pick the zones that face the fire, and save it for the next start. A house has one water supply, and every sprinkler shares its pressure. If too many sprinklers open at once, none of them sprays properly. FireShield's own patent states it plainly: available supply pressure is "generally insufficient to operate every discharge device simultaneously." That's true for every system. So wildfire sprinkler systems divide the property into zones and run a few at a time. The real question is who decides which zones run. Turning zones off FireShield lets you exclude zones. The patent covers both routes — by setting, or during operation — and describes it precisely: FireShield "excludes a disabled zone from the activation sequence." The zone is skipped in the rotation, and the water it would have used goes to the zones that are still running. Some reasons you might turn a zone off: It sprays somewhere it shouldn't, like a new deck or a neighbor's yard. Something needs repair. Turn off that one zone and the rest keep working. Water is limited. If you're running on pool or tank water, fewer zones make it last longer. Giving a zone more You can also do the opposite. FireShield can give the zones you choose a larger share of the run. The patent describes allocating a greater share of the sequence to selected zones "by at least one of a longer run-time and a more frequent activation within the activation sequence." For example, you can give the side of the house facing the fire longer or more frequent turns. A real property's zones laid out. By default every zone runs, and you can change which ones run, for how long and how often. And FireShield doesn't need you standing there to do it. The same reassignment can be driven automatically from FireShield's risk analysis, which knows roughly where the fire is and which way the wind is pushing it. When the approach direction is known, FireShield concentrates on the outlets facing that direction — and, in the patent's own words, "excluding zones on the sheltered side." You decide whether to add, drop or favor zones, and each one is a simple setting. Saved scenarios Adjusting zones one by one takes time, and it's not something you want to do while packing to leave. So FireShield lets you save named scenarios, which are groups of zones you can select all at once. The patent gives examples: a roof scenario, a front scenario, an exposed-face scenario. Pick one and FireShield waters only the zones in that group. Common scenarios: Roof only. Embers often land on roofs, so the roof is usually the most important part to protect. Exposed side. The side of the house most likely to face the fire. Perimeter only. The brush line and fence, not the house. Everything. Every zone runs. Setting these up ahead of time means you don't have to make choices during an evacuation. What happens in the background FireShield adjusts to your water pressure. It checks the pressure and runs only as many zones at once as the pressure can support, so each sprinkler sprays properly. Smooth switching. FireShield opens the next valve before closing the last one, which protects the pipes from pressure spikes. The house those zones cover. If you want, you can choose which side gets more water. What to ask before you sign QuestionWhy it matters Can I turn off a single zone?With FireShield, yes, in the settings or during a run. Can zone run times differ?FireShield sets run time per zone. A roof and a brush line don't need the same. Can one zone get more turns than another?FireShield lets you give the exposed side longer turns, more frequent turns, or both. Can I save preset groups of zones?FireShield calls them scenarios, such as roof only or exposed side. Each one starts with a single tap. How does it decide how many zones run at once?FireShield checks the water pressure and runs as many zones as it can support. What matters most is whether you can choose which zones run: turn some off, favor others, and group them ahead of time. With FireShield, you can. Next in this series - The Setting You Can Change in Ten Seconds — Why every one of these settings is simple to change, without new software. - What Actually Has to Work When Nobody's Home — The whole system, start to finish, in plain English. About FireShield — FireShield builds automated exterior wildfire defense systems for homes across Southern California. The system described here is covered by FireShield's patent. See the wildfire defense system or talk to us. ### What Happens When the Cell Towers Go Down https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/what-happens-when-the-cell-towers-go-down Wildfires often take out the power and the phone network. Here is how FireShield keeps working when both are down. The short version - During a wildfire, the power, cell service and internet often go down. - FireShield can be started four ways, and three of them need no internet: a button on the controller, a wireless button, or its own sensors. - FireShield uses Wi-Fi (or ethernet), cellular and satellite. Satellite is standard. If one goes down, it switches to another on its own. - If the power goes out, built-in backup power keeps the controller running. If it ever restarts, it picks up where it left off without needing the internet. - If you're comparing systems, ask what can still start the system with no internet and no cell service. A wildfire system needs to stay in touch, but wildfires often knock out power lines and cell towers. When that happens, the power can go out or flicker, and cell towers may only run for a few hours on backup power. Utilities sometimes shut the power off ahead of time because of fire risk. So for part of a fire, the system may not be connected. What matters is what it does then. Four ways to start it FireShield can be started in four ways, and any one of them is enough. From the cloud. FireShield's servers watch the fire and send the start command when a fire comes within the activation distance set for your house and the delay runs out. This one needs a connection. The other three don't need a connection: A button on the controller. A wireless button. You can put it by the door or in the garage and press it on your way out. It talks to the controller directly, not through the internet. Its own sensors. Heat, smoke, flame or camera sensors wired to the controller can start it. Because FireShield can be started from the cloud, it doesn't have to wait for a fire to reach the house. It can start based on the activation distance set for your house. Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite FireShield can use Wi-Fi (or ethernet), cellular or satellite to send and receive the same messages. It uses Wi-Fi when it's available. If Wi-Fi goes down, it switches to cellular, and if cellular goes down, it switches to satellite, which comes standard. When a faster connection comes back, it switches back. Each one can be turned on or off in your settings. Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite all carry the same commands, and FireShield switches between them on its own. About the satellite radio The satellite radio has its own processor, so satellite messages can never slow down the valves. The antenna goes on the roof, where it has a clear view of the sky, not on the controller. Over any connection, FireShield can receive the full set of commands: start, delay, stop, drain and change settings. Software updates go over Wi-Fi or cellular. If the power goes out while it's running If the power fails while the system is running, built-in backup power takes over. If the controller ever restarts, it picks up where it left off. Before it starts, FireShield records what it's doing and keeps that record up to date. After a restart, it reads the record, puts every valve back where it should be, and continues from the same zone. The key phrase in FireShield's patent is that it resumes "without re-establishing communication with a remote backend." It does not need to contact a server. It does not wait for a server to tell it what it was doing. It already knows. The same goes for the countdown: after a restart, it continues instead of starting over. A power outage can never push the start later. If the software ever freezes, a separate circuit restarts it, and the same recovery runs. A power outage doesn't stop your house from being protected. Making sure commands are real Because the system can be controlled remotely, it has to make sure every command really comes from you. Every message is encrypted with a key unique to your controller and checked to make sure it hasn't been changed. Anything that fails the check is ignored. Old or replaced commands are ignored too. The enclosure also has a tamper sensor, and its warning stays on the screen even after a power loss, so you'll know if someone opened it while you were away. A FireShield alert. What to ask before you sign QuestionWhy it matters How many ways can this be started?FireShield has four, and three need no internet. Can I start it without internet or cell service?With FireShield, yes: a button on the controller, a wireless button or its own sensors. What happens if power cuts mid-cycle?FireShield keeps running on built-in backup power, and after any reset it resumes from the exact zone it was on, without contacting a server. Does the satellite radio share a processor with the valves?In FireShield, no, so satellite messages can't affect the valves. Where does the satellite antenna mount?FireShield mounts it on the roof with a clear view of the sky. Ask FireShield and other companies these questions. The real test is what a system does when the power and internet are out and nobody is home. Here's the whole sequence, step by step. Next in this series - Skip the Zones You Don't Need — Watering only part of your property, and why you might want to. - The Setting You Can Change in Ten Seconds — How the settings fit the system to your house. - Why Wildfire Controllers Fail on the Hottest Day — The cooling fan and the computer, and why FireShield has neither. - What Actually Has to Work When Nobody's Home — The whole system, start to finish, in plain English. About FireShield — FireShield builds automated exterior wildfire defense systems for homes across Southern California. The controller described here is covered by FireShield's patent. See the wildfire defense system or talk to us. ### The Setting You Can Change in Ten Seconds https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/the-setting-you-can-change-in-ten-seconds If an installer wires one valve backwards, how it gets fixed tells you a lot about how a wildfire system is built. The FireShield app in READY mode. The same app while the system is ACTIVE and watering. The short version - Every FireShield system runs the same software. The setup for your house is stored as settings on the controller, which it reads when it starts and again whenever a setting changes. - Those settings cover your zone count, how long each zone runs, how each valve is wired, and how close a fire has to get before the system starts. - Change a setting and it takes effect right away, without a technician, a site visit, or a software update to the controller that protects your house. - A valve wired backwards is fixed by changing one setting. Nobody has to go back up the ladder. - If you're comparing systems, ask what it takes to make a zone run a little longer. Sometimes an installer wires a valve backwards, so it closes when it should open. It can go unnoticed until a test run. How it gets fixed depends on how the system was built. Two ways to build the same controller There are two ways to set up how a controller behaves. One way is to write every detail into the software. Then any change, even a small one, means writing, testing and installing new software on the controller. The other way is to keep those details as settings stored on the controller, and have the software read them. The software stays the same, and only the settings change. FireShield is built the second way. It's the first claim in FireShield's patent, which is a reasonable signal of how central it is: the controller reads a configuration file at runtime and works out from that file how many valves there are, how they're grouped into zones, and what order to run them in — all of it "independent of any modification of the executable firmware." Every FireShield controller runs the same software. What's different for your house is the settings. What the settings cover For each valve, FireShield stores six settings: How long that zone runs, in minutes. Each zone can be different. How long to power the valve. Each valve needs a certain amount of time to open fully, and this setting matches it. What kind of valve it is. Some valves stay in place once they move, and others stay open only while they have power. The setting tells FireShield which one it is. Whether the wiring is backwards. If a valve was wired backwards, this setting fixes it without anyone going back up on the roof. Whether the valve is used at all. Whether it's normally open or normally closed. FireShield works with both types. That's six settings for each valve, on up to 36 valves on a single FireShield controller, and none of them requires changing the software. FireShield's remote settings screen. Every value here, including activation distance, countdown, and which pumps and foam are attached, is sent to the controller remotely. The settings you can change yourself Everything above is set by your installer. A few settings you can also change yourself, if you ever want to. You change these from the FireShield app whenever you want, and they take effect right away. The patent language is specific about this — a user changes an activation setting "from the application, from the cloud backend, or at the controller," and FireShield applies the new value right away, with no software change and no involvement from an installer, a technician, or the manufacturer. These are the settings you can change: How close a fire has to get before your system starts. This is called the activation distance. A FireShield technician sets it for your house at installation, typically starting from 6 miles, and you can change it in the app if you want. How long it waits before it starts. This is the delay, a countdown that begins once a fire is inside your activation distance. The technician sets it too, typically starting from 9 minutes, which gives you time to cancel if you can see it's a false alarm. Which zones run. By default every zone runs. You can switch zones off if you want, either ahead of time or in the middle of a run, and FireShield skips them. There's a separate article on why you might want to. Scenarios. Groups of zones you can pick with one tap, such as roof only, exposed side or perimeter only. Your settings are stored in two places, on the FireShield controller and in the FireShield cloud, and the two are kept in sync. Change something in the app and it goes to the controller. If the internet goes down, which is likely during a wildfire, the controller uses its own copy. Your system doesn't need to check with a server to know what to do, as the next article explains. Why this matters Any change to the software on a life-safety device is a big deal. It has to be written, tested and sent out, and every release can break something that used to work. FireShield's patent puts the concern plainly: doing it this way "removes the delay and the risk of introduced defects that a firmware change to a life-safety device entails." If every change means new software, every change carries some risk. If it only means changing a setting, there's no software risk. One property, mapped out. Which parts of the house each zone covers, how long each zone runs, and how each valve is powered are all stored as settings, not written into the software. What to ask before you sign Questions you can ask: QuestionWhy it matters If a valve is wired backwards, what's the fix?With FireShield it's one setting. Ask other companies whether it takes a return visit or a software change. Can I change my activation distance myself?FireShield: a technician sets it for your house at installation, and you can also change it in the app. Can zone run times differ from each other?Your roof and your brush line have different needs. FireShield sets a run time for each zone. Does changing a setting require a software update?With FireShield, no. This question tells you which of the two ways the system was built. Does it still know its settings with the internet down?FireShield keeps a copy of your settings on the controller itself and uses it when the internet is down. These answers tell you more than a brochure. How a company handles a backwards valve shows whether its system was designed to be adjusted easily over the years. FireShield was. Next in this series - What Happens When the Cell Towers Go Down — How FireShield keeps working when the internet, the power, and the phone network are all gone. - Skip the Zones You Don't Need — Watering only part of your property, and why you might want to. - Why Wildfire Controllers Fail on the Hottest Day — The cooling fan and the computer, and why FireShield has neither. - What Actually Has to Work When Nobody's Home — The whole system, start to finish, in plain English. About FireShield — FireShield builds automated exterior wildfire defense systems for homes across Southern California. The controller described here is covered by FireShield's patent. See the wildfire defense system or talk to us. ### Why Wildfire Controllers Fail on the Hottest Day https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/why-most-wildfire-systems-break-on-the-hottest-day A cooling fan and a computer are the parts most likely to fail in a wildfire controller. FireShield has neither. The FireShield Defense Core, the central controller. A sealed enclosure with no vents, no filter, and no cooling fan anywhere in it. The short version - A cooling fan is a part that wears out, and fans wear out fastest in extreme heat, which is when wildfires happen. - A controller built around a computer has to start up after every power cut, and software updates can break things. - FireShield has no cooling fan and no computer. Nothing inside a FireShield controller moves. - It's sealed, so dust, water and insects can't get in, and there's no filter to clean. - If you're comparing systems, ask whether there's a fan in it and whether it runs an operating system. Wildfires usually come with heat, dry air and strong winds, and the controller on your house may be sitting in direct sun. That's the day your system is there for, and the hardest conditions it will face. A good question to ask about any system: what is most likely to be broken when you need it? For most outdoor equipment, it's the cooling fan, and after that, the small computer the fan is there to cool. The FireShield controller has neither. The fan A fan has a spinning part, and spinning parts wear out. Fans wear out faster in heat, and a controller on the side of a house gets very hot in the summer sun. A fan also needs vents, and vents let in dust, ash and insects. A filter helps, but filters need regular cleaning. A fan is most likely to fail in extreme heat, and extreme heat is when wildfires happen. FireShield left the fan out. FireShield's patent says it plainly: the controller has "no fan or other moving cooling part," and "operates within a sealed, high-temperature enclosure." That requirement shaped everything else. With no fan, the processor has to be one that can handle the heat inside a sealed enclosure, so FireShield chose a chip for that, instead of choosing a fast chip and adding a fan to keep it cool. Sealing the enclosure also keeps dust, water and insects out, and there's no filter to clean. The computer The second part FireShield left out is the computer. A lot of control equipment is a small computer running an operating system, such as Linux. That makes it easier to build, but it causes three problems for a wildfire controller. It has to start up. A computer can take up to a minute to start. During a wildfire the power can cut in and out, and each time the computer has to start over. FireShield's controller restarts in a moment, not a minute. Updates can break things. An operating system gets regular updates, and sometimes an update stops something that used to work. In a safety device that sits unused for years, you might only find out during a fire. The patent is blunt about why FireShield went the other way: dropping the operating system "removes operating-system updates and the version dependencies among operating-system components, drivers, and libraries that can mismatch and cause failure or downtime." The timing can slip. This matters most for the valves. An operating system handles many jobs at once, so it can't always do one specific thing at an exact moment. Valves need exact timing. The controller has to power each valve for the right amount of time to open or close it fully, every time. So the FireShield controller runs simple software written for its chip, with part of the processor set aside just for the valves. The satellite radio has its own processor, so it can't interrupt a valve. This kind of software takes more work to build. FireShield keeps all the settings stored on the controller, separate from the software, so your system can be adjusted without changing the software. Lower power use With no fan and no computer, the controller uses very little power, so it runs cooler, and cooler electronics last longer. When the power goes out, the controller and the valves keep running on built-in backup power, and a controller that uses less power runs longer on it. There's more about power and internet outages in a separate article. The display on an installed FireShield system, showing READY. It shows water pressure, flow, which zone is running, and whether the satellite link is up. What to ask any company before you sign Questions you can ask: QuestionWhy it matters Is there a cooling fan?If yes, it's a part that wears out, and it fails fastest in fire weather. Does the enclosure have vents?Vents let dust, water and insects in over the years. Does it run an operating system?If yes, ask how long it takes to start up after a power cut. Can settings change without a software update?With FireShield they can. It's a setting, not a software change. How much power does it use on backup?Less power means it runs longer on built-in backup power, with more left for the valves. Ask FireShield and other companies these questions. You'll never see any of this working, and that's how it should be. A system like this has to work after sitting unused for years. A fan can wear out, and an operating system can break with an update. FireShield removed the fan and the operating system. A FireShield Main Hub and Defense Core in place. Next in this series - The Setting You Can Change in Ten Seconds — Why FireShield's settings are stored separately from its software, and what that means when an installer wires a valve backwards. - What Happens When the Cell Towers Go Down — How FireShield keeps working when the internet, the power, and the phone network are all gone. - One Controller Fits Every House — Why FireShield builds one controller for every size of house. - What Actually Has to Work When Nobody's Home — The whole system, start to finish, in plain English. About FireShield — FireShield builds automated exterior wildfire defense systems for homes across Southern California. The controller described here is covered by FireShield's patent. See the wildfire defense system or talk to us. ### What Actually Has to Work When Nobody's Home https://www.fireshieldwildfire.com/articles/what-actually-has-to-work-when-nobodys-home When a fire comes, you may not be home and the power may be out. Here's everything that has to go right, in order. A FireShield system running on a real property. The short version - On the day a fire comes, you may not be home, and the power and internet may be out. The system has to do everything on its own. - FireShield's protection works in four stages, and each one has to lead correctly into the next: waiting, deciding to start, running, shutting down. - Spraying water is the easy part. The hard part is sitting idle for years and then working when it's needed. - Most of FireShield's design assumes nobody is home: there's no fan to fail, it can run without the internet, and it doesn't need anyone to press a button. - If you're comparing systems, ask each company to walk you through all four stages, not just the spraying. Most wildfire system demos show the same thing: someone taps a phone and water comes off the roof. That's the easy part. Below is everything else that has to go right, in order. Waiting between fires Your system spends almost all of its life waiting, and this is where problems can go unnoticed. The pipes stay empty. A valve at the water supply stays closed, so the pipes on your walls and roof aren't under pressure when the system isn't running. Pipes under constant pressure wear out faster and can leak. Keeping them empty avoids that. If something breaks, the water stays off. The supply valve is normally closed, so if a wire is cut or the controller fails, the water shuts off. A utility power outage is different: the controller and the valves keep running on built-in backup power. FireShield's patent gives the reason directly: it protects against "runaway water use, water cost, and flooding of an unattended structure." Nothing is wearing out. There's no cooling fan, no vents and no filter to service. There's a separate article on this. It checks in. FireShield reports to its servers regularly, so someone knows it's online and working. Deciding to start When a fire starts somewhere, FireShield has to decide whether your house is in danger. From fire data. FireShield's servers collect fire data from several sources and work out how far the nearest edge of each fire is from your house. What starts it. Your house has an activation distance, which is how close a fire has to get, and a delay, which is how long the system waits after that before it starts. When the nearest edge of a fire comes within the activation distance, the delay counts down, and then the system starts. Your technician sets both at installation, typically starting from 6 miles and 9 minutes, and you can cancel during the countdown. From the property itself. There's a button on the FireShield controller, a wireless button you can press on your way out, and heat, smoke, flame or camera sensors wired to the controller. However it starts, the system responds the same way. Three of the four ways need no internet: the controller's button, the wireless button and on-site sensors. What happens while it runs Once the start command arrives, here is what happens, step by step. First, it records what it's about to do. This lets it pick up where it left off if anything interrupts it. It opens the water supply and checks the pressure. It runs a few zones at a time. No house has enough water to run every sprinkler at once, so FireShield runs as many zones together as the water pressure can support. It switches zones gently. It opens the next valve before closing the last one, which protects the pipes. It times each valve separately. Each valve gets the right amount of time to open fully, from its settings. How the pieces fit together. The Defense Core controls the Main Hub; the Main Hub runs the Zone Modules and turns on the Foam Hub, Pool Package, Booster Pump and Generator when they are needed. If water pressure runs low, it uses your pool. When the pressure drops too low while the system is running, FireShield starts your pool pump to push more water. Both have to be true, so a pressure dip on an ordinary day never touches your pool. If the power goes out, it keeps going. The controller and the valves keep running on built-in backup power. The pool pump needs electricity, so it needs its own backup power option or a generator; without one, it will not run during an outage. If there is a generator, FireShield runs it only when the system is active and utility power is gone, not for brief flickers in the power. It runs every zone, unless you choose otherwise. By default every zone runs automatically. If you want, you can favor certain zones or turn some off in the app, so limited water goes where you choose. If something resets, it picks up where it left off. That could be a brownout or the watchdog circuit restarting the software. FireShield reads the record it wrote in step one, drives every valve to its correct position, and resumes from the exact zone it was on — "without re-establishing communication with a remote backend." It doesn't need to check with anyone first. There's more on this in What Happens When the Cell Towers Go Down. You can choose to keep the water on. If the backup power ever runs out, the supply valve closes to protect an empty house from flooding. If you'd rather keep the water flowing, you can tell FireShield ahead of time or during the event. Shutting down after the fire After the fire, the system gets itself ready for next time. It drains the pipes. FireShield empties the pipes through a drain line, so no water is left sitting in the lines on your roof. It can flush the lines. If foam was used, FireShield can run plain water through to clear residue out of the nozzles. Otherwise, dried foam residue is what clogs sprinkler heads between events. Then it drains again. It closes the supply and goes back to standby. The pipes are empty again, and FireShield records the event. Then it goes back to waiting. Roof sprinklers, eave sprinklers, the Defense Core and foam: the equipment the four stages control. The FireShield Defense Core, which handles all of the above with nobody in the house. Why it all has to work together Spraying water is the easy part. Most of the design is built around the fact that nobody will be home. There's no fan because nobody will be around to service it. The pipes stay empty because nobody would notice a slow leak. There are several ways to start it, so it doesn't depend on any one of them. And it shuts itself down and drains the lines on its own. FireShield's patent makes the argument directly, and it's the honest version: no single one of these features produces the result. The controller reading its settings at runtime is what lets one controller handle any property. That same awareness of every zone is what makes pressure-correct sequencing possible. The two-condition interlock is what lets a limited pool be used without being wasted. Isolation that closes by default is what helps keep an empty house safe. Its memory is what carries a run through a blackout. What to ask before you sign QuestionWhy it matters Are the pipes pressurized while it's idle?FireShield keeps its pipes empty in standby. Constant pressure wears on the joints over the years. What happens if it loses power mid-run?FireShield's controller and valves keep running on built-in backup power, and after any reset it resumes the sequence from where it stopped. The pool pump needs its own backup power option or a generator. How many ways can it start without internet?FireShield has three. When does it draw from my pool?Only on low pressure and an active run, never on an ordinary day. What does it do after it finishes?FireShield drains the pipes, flushes them if foam was used, drains again and closes the supply. Ask any company you're considering, including FireShield, to walk you through all four stages. On the day this matters, you may not be home. Everything above has to happen without you, and that's what FireShield is built to do. Next in this series - Why Wildfire Controllers Fail on the Hottest Day — The cooling fan and the computer, and why FireShield has neither. - The Setting You Can Change in Ten Seconds — How the settings fit the system to your house. - What Happens When the Cell Towers Go Down — The four ways to start it, and what keeps working in a blackout. - Skip the Zones You Don't Need — Watering only part of your property when you choose to. About FireShield — FireShield builds automated exterior wildfire defense systems for homes across Southern California. The system described here is covered by FireShield's patent. See the wildfire defense system or talk to us.