San Bernardino County firefighters testing sound wave technology to battle fires

By Joy Benedict, Dean Fioresi

The San Bernardino County Fire Department tested new technology on Monday designed to help suppress fires by using sound waves.

The live demonstration, which was conducted with Sonic Fire Tech, showcased the cutting-edge system that was developed by former NASA acoustics engineers.

"This technology works without water or chemicals, creating a protective zone that can stop ignition in milliseconds while avoiding the collateral damage often seen with traditional suppression methods," a news release from SBCoFD said. "From autonomous early detection to rapid suppression, tools like these have the potential to reduce fire damage before it starts, especially in wildfire-prone areas."

Remington Hotchkis, the Chief Commercialization Officer for Sonic Fire Tech, said that all fires need oxygen to burn, and that their technology breaks it up instead of completely removing it, which could end up being dangerous.

"We vibrate the oxygen at a rate where fire can't consume it, and it breaks the chemical reaction," Hotchkis said. "We use infrasound, which are sound waves that are inaudible to the human ear.

Firefighters said that the technology can also be applied inside homes and businesses and could help stop fires like kitchen or appliance fires in their earliest stages.

They said that the technology was already being incorporated into some of Altadena's newly constructed homes after the devastating Eaton Fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in January 2025.

Hotchkis said that the technology is starting small, with systems being built in place of sprinkler systems.

"A water sprinkler system is highly ineffective at putting out a grease fire; it actually spreads the fire and makes it worse. Yet, we're mandated to have sprinklers above our kitchen stoves," he said. "Our system was shown to suppress the fire, prevent the ignition from occurring with a autonomous detection device."

He says one massive benefit is preventing and extinguishing fires without wasting water and leaving damage behind. Eventually, they hope that the technology can find widespread use by firefighters, especially those battling wildfires.

"I have two little kids, and the thought of putting water infrastructure in place means we're robbing them of the opportunity to drink that water in the future," Hotchkis said.