The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that Torrance-based Intellisense Systems will receive $300,000 to focus on the development of sensors to track wildfire air pollutants.

The company “provides a great example of a small business working to provide valuable field data during wildfires,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud.

“We look forward to seeing the innovative products and solutions this company develops, and we welcome the contribution to keep our firefighters and communities safe in California and across the nation,” he said.

Intellisense and eight other small businesses across the country will share in $3 million awarded by EPA to further develop and commercialize technologies to protect the environment, the agency said. The companies are each receiving funding of up to $300,000 from EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research program.

The Torrance company is developing a sensing device to measure and track wildfire air pollutants in a small, solar-powered unit capable of storing and reporting data from remote locations. The portable unit does not require hardline power and enables the user to deploy a network of air-quality sensors rapidly and at low cost.

“Persistent air-quality monitoring has become more urgent and important as the incidence of wildfires continue to increase near populated areas,” said Frank Willis, chief executive officer of Intellisense Systems. “We appreciate the financial commitment from the EPA, through the SBIR program, to further this technology development and bridge this gap in the current pollutant monitoring ecosystem.”

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