Pilot Project Success at High Line Environmental

Selkirk Sensors is proud to announce the successful completion of a groundbreaking pilot project in partnership with High Line Environmental, a Vancouver Island company specializing in premium soil, mulch, and landscape supplies. The collaboration aimed to evaluate real-time fire risk detection in industrial environments with a high fuel-load potential using Selkirk's state-of-the-art sensor systems.

The Challenge

Industrial environments like High Line Environmental face a persistent risk of fire due to high volumes of flammable goods, elevated temperatures, and machinery friction. Traditional fire detection systems often react too late — when flames have erupted.

High Line Environmental, committed to innovation and safety, partnered with Selkirk Sensors to explore a proactive solution: early detection of smoldering fires and other ignition sources through environmental monitoring.

The Pilot

The pilot took place over a four-month period at a High Line Environmental in Ladysmith, British Columbia. Selkirk Sensors deployed a network of compact, cloud-connected environmental sensors throughout key high-risk areas. These sensors monitored:

• Ambient pressure, temperature, and humidity changes

• Particulate concentration levels

• Volatile compound signatures

Data was continuously collected, encrypted, and transmitted to a cloud dashboard, giving High Line Environmental's operation team live insight into environmental conditions and potential ignition risks.

The Results

The outcomes exceeded expectations:

• Early Warning Accuracy: The system successfully detected micro-changes in environmental data that correlated with known risk patterns.

• Zero False Alarms: Advanced machine learning was trained to detect the specific VOC signature of the flammable materials, filtering ensured that alerts were triggered only by real risk events, avoiding unnecessary shutdowns.

• Operational Insights: The pilot revealed the overarching importance of enhanced sensor integration and deployment within industrial environments. The sensors' compact design and low power requirements facilitated deployment in remote locations, providing comprehensive coverage of the targeted areas.​

  

  
  
  

What's Next

Following the success of the pilot, High Line Environmental and Selkirk Sensors are working together to expand the system across the enitre facility. The partnership represents a powerful example of how industry and innovation can combine to improve safety, reduce operational disruptions, and protect both people and assets.

“Not only are the sensors invaluable for early fire detection,” said High Line owner Milan, “they allow our team to learn about how our products interact with the environment. We can look for tipping points, curves, and trends regarding how our products interact with the changing seasons. Instead of reacting to fires, we’re now predicting them — and that changes everything.”

Selkirk Sensors plans to further enhance their platform with AI-driven predictive analytics, making the solution even more powerful for industrial applications.

Selkirk Sensors co-founder, Ahmad Naveed (left) pictured with High Line Environmental President Milan Vojnovich (right).