News

Installed by LEITEK Innovative Solutions at the end of August 2026, the Municipality of Chaves, Portugal, now has the SAFEFOREST® early wildfire detection system for detecting fires in the public areas of the Business Hosting Area (Área de Acolhimento Empresarial), as well as in the adjacent forested and rural zones. The automatic detection and monitoring cameras are installed on Vodafone 5G towers.

Ground-based early wildfire and rural fire detection systems, based on video and infrared cameras installed on Surveillance or Remote Acquisition Towers (TAR), continue to be the best overall technological solution for persistent, 24/7 detection under adverse weather conditions (especially wind) across large forest areas — and with a lower cost of ownership, which translates into a lower cost of fire monitoring per hectare. The synergy with other technologies, such as Unmanned Aircraft Systems and ground IoT sensors, can enhance the overall solution.

We are pleased to announce the new installation of the SafeForest®-DUO early wildfire detection system on Vodafone 5G towers, in the Business Hosting Area of the Municipality of Lagos, connected to the Algarve Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command (CREPC) of ANEPC.

This deployment is another important step in putting technology at the service of environmental protection, the safety of communities and the resilience of territories.

Equipped with thermal-imaging and ultra-high-definition video cameras for the automatic detection of smoke columns, flames and hot spots consistent with ignitions, the SafeForest®-DUO system reinforces surveillance and the early detection of ignitions — contributing to a faster and more effective response in the prevention of rural and forest fires, and improving fire situational awareness over a distance of 20 km. Through intelligent monitoring and integration into existing communications infrastructure, it is possible to extend territorial coverage and improve alerting capacity in sensitive areas.

Key benefits of this solution:

• Early detection of the first signs of fire
• Continuous monitoring of rural and forest areas and risk zones
• Shorter response times for the competent authorities
• Use of 5G infrastructure for greater coverage and efficiency
• Protection of people, property, businesses and ecosystems
• Support for sustainability and smart land management

Installing SafeForest® on 5G towers shows the potential of technological innovation to create concrete solutions for critical challenges such as wildfire prevention. At LEITEK Innovative Solutions we remain committed to developing technologies that protect the territory, promote sustainability and help build safer communities.

From 23 to 27 February we took part in the Aerospace Week (Semana Aeroespacial) of Instituto Superior Técnico — one of the main events bringing students and companies of the sector together, promoting networking, knowledge sharing and career opportunities.

During the Career Fair we had the chance to meet young talent, present our projects and share the opportunities we have for those who want to grow with us. It was an inspiring moment that reinforces our commitment to developing talent and to the future of engineering and technology.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our stand! We are still looking for people who want to make a difference.

The Estrutura Federativa da Floresta Portuguesa (Federative Structure of the Portuguese Forest) organised the Forest Technology Fair (Feira Tecnológica Florestal), held on 16 January 2026 at the Mação Training Centre.

Under the theme "Technology at the service of individual and environmental protection", the event set out to promote a technical meeting of excellence between the sector's representative bodies and innovative solutions on the market.

LEITEK Innovative Solutions presented its SAFEFOREST®-SHIELD system and the N5SHIELD® system of its North American partner N5 Sensors, Inc., based on ChemNodes™ multimodal IoT sensor networks for the detection of particles, smoke and heat.

We're proud to announce that on the 5th and 6th of October, LEITEK Innovative Solutions participated in the semi-finals of the XPRIZE Wildfire competition — a global challenge with an $11 million prize pool with the aim of revolutionising wildfire detection and suppression — as part of Team AeroWatch.

Semi-finalist teams are judged on real-time detection capabilities, autonomous decision-making, mobility and suppression capability, and operational safety.

Our AeroWatch team (www.aerotech.tech) is an international consortium led by BCN Drone Center and the Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC), uniting leading companies from across Europe and North America. Together, we're developing a System of Systems that integrates cameras, satellites, drones and IoT sensors to detect and combat wildfires in real time.

Our SafeForest-Shield® early wildfire detection system contributes to the solution with its ability to detect wildfires accurately and rapidly, also allowing for seamless integration with the IoT sensors and the rest of the system — helping to bring a safer, smarter and more resilient firefighting future to life.

Besides LEITEK Innovative Solutions, Team AeroWatch also includes: Avy, CATUAV, Flare Bright Ltd., Flying Objects Technologies, Gotonomi, Near Space Labs, Pau Costa Foundation, Skycharge, Swift Aerospace, Viasat, Videosoft Global, VizAir and volant.

We would like to thank the Escola Nacional de Bombeiros (National Fire Academy), based in Sintra, Portugal, and our partners N5 Sensors, Inc. from Maryland, USA, for their help during the trials that involved SafeForest-Shield®.

On 15 September, an individual was arrested in Greece by officers of the Arson Crimes Division (DAEE), in execution of an arrest warrant issued by the Special Investigator of the Athens Court of First Instance. The arrest related to a fire that broke out in early September in the Hymettus forest, in the Byron area of the Athens district. According to competent sources, the foreign national is accused of being responsible for the fire that started on 7 September 2025 at 19:18 in the Hymettus forest. The images captured by the SafeForest early fire detection system located in Ilioupolis were decisive in proving this criminal offence.

The SafeForest® fire detection system raised the automatic fire alert on 7 September at 19:17, with the precise coordinates of the fire, allowing the Ilioupolis volunteer fire brigade to fight it effectively within a few minutes. The images captured and stored by the system made it possible to reconstruct the scene where the fire broke out. Their analysis clearly identified an individual setting the fire, which quickly spread close to a residential area.

SafeForest® early wildfire detection systems are developed and manufactured by the Portuguese technology company LEITEK Innovative Solutions, based at the DNA Cascais business centre in Alcabideche. SafeForest® systems make extensive use of artificial-intelligence algorithms to detect and alert to fire at distances of over 15 km.