Preventing fires before they ignite: How a regional recycling leader enhanced safety with Everguard.ai

In steel recycling, heat is the first sign of danger—and often the only one you get. This regional leader partnered with Everguard.ai to detect invisible risks early and stop fires before they could start. The result? Safer teams, fewer disruptions, and a smarter, always-on safety system built for the real world.

In high-volume steel recycling facilities, unseen heat generated by mixed materials pose a constant threat to safety and productivity. Fires sparked by electrical waste, reactive metals, or residual oils can ignite before anyone even sees smoke. Manual checks aren’t fast or reliable enough alone. Everguard’s real-time thermal anomaly detection gave the team a way to act on the earliest warning sign—heat—before it became a hazard.

Problem to solve:

The nature of steel recycling means that the unexpected is routine—scrap piles can contain anything from oxidizing metals to electrical components. When that mix starts to heat up, the clock starts ticking. The team at this regional recycling leader knew that even a small missed hotspot could escalate into a fire or explosion, costing tens of thousands in damage, halting operations, and endangering workers. They needed a way to see what people couldn’t: heat, developing in real time.

How we solve

Everguard.ai’s solution uses AI and dual thermal-standard bispectral cameras to continuously scan geofenced areas of the yard. The solution is smart enough to ignore the equipment and vehicles that belong onsite and the hot exhaust pipes that enable them to move—and precise enough to isolate abnormal heat patterns within the scrap piles themselves. When it detects an anomaly, alerts are triggered in near real time, enabling quick action to stop incidents before they start.

We believe in Everguard’s products and people; that’s why we’re moving toward using their product solutions throughout our enterprise

Site manager, Multinational steel company

Key results

Fires prevented through early heat detection

Downtime avoided—each avoided incident saved tens of thousands of dollars

24/7 visibility into high-risk areas

Safety culture strengthened through smarter, more proactive monitoring

Significant cost savings—tens of thousands in potential damage and environmental penalties prevented

Conclusion

This regional leader didn’t just improve fire prevention—they raised the bar for what safety looks like in steel recycling. With proven results and strong site adoption, they’re already expanding Everguard.ai’s thermal anomaly detection to additional areas of the plant. his success is already driving expansion to other areas of the plant—proving how adaptable the solution can be.