FireWarden: Pool-Powered Fire Protection

Wildfire relief

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit) City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit) West LA East LA San Gabriel Valley San Fernando Valley

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

We understand the wildfire crisis as a growing systemic issue fueled by climate change, urban expansion, and a lack of accessible home defense solutions. Most homes aren’t lost from direct flame contact, but to airborne embers that ignite roofs and vents ahead of the rage. Homeowners lack clear, affordable, & site-specific guidance on how to defend their properties. Public firefighting resources are overstretched, professional defense systems are costly, complex, and often incompatible, and unguided DIY solutions are dangerous. This leaves families vulnerable, neighborhoods exposed, and insurance markets destabilized. We see the root issue as a lack of decentralized, proactive, & scalable wildfire defense. FireWarden is helping homeowners use their existing water sources, like pools, to defend their homes safely & affordably. By slowing ember spread at the block level, we reduce disaster intensity, ease pressure on first responders, & help build climate-resilient communities.

This grant will support the implementation & validation of FireWarden, our wildfire defense platform that helps homeowners in high-risk areas protect their properties using the water they already have—such as in their pools. Most homes are not destroyed by direct wildfire contact, but by wind-driven embers that ignite rooftops, vents, decks, etc. before the flames arrive. Homeowners lack affordable, accessible, & actionable solutions, & first responders and municipal resources are overstretched. We fill this gap by turning passive infrastructure into active defense—empowering families to act early & evacuate with confidence.
The platform works in three steps: the user enters their address, and we analyze the property’s roof size, pool volume, terrain, layout, etc. We then generate a custom wildfire defense blueprint for the user's property layout & a tailored equipment list based on their home—including pumps, pipes, generators, sprinklers, etc. Homeowners can purchase the full system in one click from vetted vendors. We do not warehouse products—we streamline the path from need to installation.
With LA2050’s support, we will fund 5 pilot installations across LA this summer. These will allow us to test system performance, gather feedback, & perfect the product. Many neighborhoods share similar layouts, so one successful install can lead to scalable deployment. This grant enables us to perfect the platform, reduce risk, and build a decentralized model for climate resilience.

With FireWarden’s success, Los Angeles County will become a national model for neighborhood-level wildfire resilience. Resources won’t sit idle and homes will be equipped with their own systems, using water they already have to help. Our platform empowers residents with affordable, actionable tools that reduce property loss, insurance strain, and pressure on first responders. Our vision is a future where wildfire preparedness is decentralized, community-driven, and embedded into the fabric of homeownership—supplementing strained resources in both dense urban and rural areas. Neighborhoods will be safer, emergency response more effective, and insurance more sustainable. We’ll make wildfire defense easy to adopt, adaptable to housing types, and scalable across LA. Over time, our system can align with local policies, fire codes, and rebate programs to normalize household-level climate resilience. A successful FireWarden shifts LA from reactive recovery to proactive protection.