Last year the world was fixated by the hellish scenes broadcast from Australia. Horrifying pictures of burnt kangaroos and koala bears, as well as people losing their homes. In addition to these horrifying images there were some heroic ones emerging of firefighters and volunteers tackling the blazes. Unfortunately, not all of these brave men and women came back from this battle. Wildfires have become a common occurrence in areas like Australia and the US due to scorching temperatures. Producing very dry land which is easily combustable. In the first month of 2021 there has been a record breaking 297 fires that has burnt 1,171 acres in California. This is just over 3 times the amount of fires seen in the same period last year. The 5 year average for January is 108 fires, with 58 acres burned, according to Cal fire. It's clear from these statistics that global warming is hitting these areas hard and we as a human race have a very terrifying problem to fix.

AI technology has advanced significantly in the past few years and there are now numerous systems being tailored to wildfires. The systems being used allow local fire departments to predict where fires will start before they actually happen. Successfully being able to predict a fires path will allow for strategic placement of firefighters to help put out the blaze. WIFIRE is an example of this kind of system, it was used to fight all the fires in Southern California last year. As for most systems to be successful, a suitable amount of data needs to be available to analyse. Most of the data can be collected from satellites and aircrafts, but some rangers still need to help to gather details from the ground. An area for development for this system could be to implement robotics to roam around targeted areas constantly taking samples. Machine learning and AI techniques are being used together alongside data models to help predict where a fire will start, up to one year in advance. If this technology is successful it could save countless lives, animals and homes. I think this is great application for AI technology, it can process data much faster than humans presenting us more time to put out the blaze.

Another area where emerging technology is being utilised within the industry is training. Virtual Reality is now being used to give young and old firefighters the chance to practise their branch techniques (the branch is used to increase the velocity of water), gas cooling, door entry, search protocols etc. All of this is done within a safe environment, where the exercise can be restarted for the next learner at the click of a button. Despite this example being used in more domestic settings, it could be easily customised to wildfire situation. Again, this is another good application of technology as it gives personal the chance to envision the situations they may find themselves in, before being thrown into the real thing. On the other hand, it may give firefighters a false sense of confidence, therefore, I think it should only be used in the early stages of training. The video below shows how the system operates.

DJI drones are a popular choice among photographers and videographers, however, they're not the only ones making use of the nimble device. Firefighters employ the technology to monitor an ongoing fire as well as aid search and rescue missions. There are also heavy-duty drones being used to lift hundreds of pounds of water, pressurised hoses or fire repellent. Some of these machines can even airlift people to safety, meaning helicopters aren't required to fly dangerously low above fires. One such company producing these drones is called Parallel Flight, who are supported by NASA. They claim their new technology (patent pending) can lift the drone plus its own mass in payload, excluding fuel, for over an hour. It's also stated that in the event of an engine failure the system will be able to continue flying. This new technology opens the door to life saving solutions and seems like it will be the future of fire fighting. It completely makes sense to employ these unmanned drones to operate in dangerous environments instead of risking human life. I do have a worry though, despite the drones impressive stats they can't make the same impact compared to what a human has to offer. The fight or flight instinct of man is very difficult to emulate in a piece of technology, however, maybe the answer isn't replacing man with technology but using them in perfect harmony.

It's evident from the examples given how vital design & technology is to tackle these fires. The state of our planet is only getting worse, the occurrence of these disasters is only going to increase, therefore, ensuring firefighters have the equipment they need to save lives is paramount. It's sad to think we as a human race rely on technology to protect ourselves from the mess we made. On the other hand, it's encouraging to see how far technology can be pushed to try and improve our way of life.