The trailer-sized aircraft are intended to operate in swarms, offering a cost-effective supplement to helicopters by hauling tools and quenching smoldering timber. Following a late October waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration, operators will be allowed to pilot the craft up to 200 feet in Pitkin County under continuous visual line of sight. While supporters emphasize the drones' ability to fly risky nighttime missions, wildfire experts caution that the machines have only faced controlled prescribed burns rather than chaotic, active blazes. Ground crews will ultimately still be required to fully extinguish fires even after aerial drops are completed.
Key points
The autonomous systems aim to suppress remote lightning strikes quickly before they threa…: The autonomous systems aim to suppress remote lightning strikes quickly before they threaten nearby communities and forests.
Deploying unmanned swarms offers a significantly cheaper alternative to crewed helicopter…: Deploying unmanned swarms offers a significantly cheaper alternative to crewed helicopters and can mitigate traditional aviation hazards.
Firefighting veterans warn that aerial drops cannot replace ground crews and note the tec…: Firefighting veterans warn that aerial drops cannot replace ground crews and note the technology remains unproven in active wildfires.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
On a rare overcast day in late summer, red-and-white fire trucks pepper a grassy strip of land in the mountains of western Colorado.
A persistent buzzing rises and falls as several uniformed staff from the Aspen Fire Protection District huddle around an iPad, watching one of their volunteer firefighters control a massive drone.
This first-of-its-kind machine looks like a giant bug. Black and white with propellers attached to four large arms, it's about 10 by 12 feet wide — roughly the size of a small U-Haul trailer.
While firefighters have used drones to monitor wildfires for decades, this new product could use AI to help extinguish fires.
Eye of the swarm
Developed by the California-based company Seneca, the drones are designed to work in a swarm. Similar to a small fire engine, five of them can carry 500 to 1,000 gallons of finished fire foam, and firefighters in Aspen reported they were easy to operate.
"We were just joking that my 12-year-old could fly these things," said Andy Fisher, deputy chief of Aspen Fire.
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