A mild but dry summer in the Bay Area increases wildfire risk and motivates new tools for fuel reduction. BurnBot, a remote-controlled vegetation masticator created by a San Jose native, aims to make forest management safer and more efficient. Two operators with two machines can complete in five days work that a forty-person crew would need six weeks to finish, dramatically increasing pace and scale. High costs limit individual robot ownership, so officials emphasize homeowner actions such as ignition zone inspections and keeping the first five feet around homes clear. Community-wide participation is urged to reduce wildfire risk.
"The question really is, how can you take our existing hand crews and amplify them with this?" BurnBot CEO Anukool Lakhina said. "This will dramatically increase the pace and scale and that's where technology, when applied with intention, can actually amplify human capacity -- to get more acres done safely, ecologically, effectively."
"Wildfire is everybody's challenge," Santa Clara County FireSafe Council CEO Seth Schalet said. "We can't just lie on the men and women of CAL FIRE and those behind us. If you live in the wildland interface, you need to roll up your sleeves and do your part, not just to protect yourself, but to protect your neighbor."
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