Fibonacci Fire Project

Co-founded by Erin Linebarger, Ph.D., Robotics 88 provides autonomous sub-canopy surveys of fuel loads for prescribed burn planning. #FounderFriday

https://lnkd.in/d6rTGSMQ

#NationalFireNews: Due to significant wildland fire activity increasing in multiple Geographic Areas, the National #PreparednessLevel has increased to level 2 (also known as PL 2) as of today, May 21. #FireYear2024 📸 C130 airtanker dropping retardant on the edge of the #WildcatFire Saturday, May 18, 2024. Photo provided by the Tonto National Forest on InciWeb.

This is a great piece of insight. Just got out a napkin and a pen and it looks like we need to be investing at least $8 billion a year in proactive treatment, prescribed fire, education and prevention activities, if we have any hope of tilting the scales in support of forest and rangeland health. $8 billion + 10% annual budget increase might do the trick? $8 billion which is not dedicated to suppression, but to heading off the "fire deficit" that continues to collect more every year. What is our defense spending, again? I would argue that this is matter of national security, a threat to our economy, and an ongoing threat to the ecosystems that serve us. I remember when the national fire budget was $500 million: it's increased 8 fold so far, in my lifetime. We have a long way to go before we even begin to understand the gravity of wildfire, but we aren't even playing with real theories of change, yet. Our government and their constituents are afraid of the real problem: $$$. We'd better pay up, or or children and maybe their children are going to be very, very disappointed in the world we have left them.

We submitted our XPRIZE Wildfire concept yesterday and are excited to advance to the next round of competition. Learn how our vision will advance autonomous wildfire response technology on our team's website. https://lnkd.in/gKdKJBsm

Check out our new team intro video. We are competing in the XPRIZE Wildfire competition to create autonomous wildfire suppression technology. Gabe DonaldsonDaniel FitzgeraldJoel S. Wright

The #XPRIZEWildfire Judging Summit is currently taking place in Denver! Check out this great piece from Denver7 on the event. https://lnkd.in/guCd4DFD Learn more about the two XPRIZE Wildfire tracks and how eye-opening fires like the Marshall Fire in Boulder County and the Maui, Hawaii fire further emphasize the need for innovative technologies to effectively detect and respond to destructive wildfires. Here are some key quotes: 🔥 “We don’t run competitions just for the sake of competition. We run them because we need meaningful solutions in the world now.” - XPRIZE EVP, Biodiversity & Conservation Peter Houlihan 🔥 “We want to be able to find wildfires when they’re small, because the smaller they are, the easier it is to manage them.” - XPRIZE Wildfire Program Director Andrea Santy 🔥 “We offer these innovators, these garage mechanics, these technologists a chance to take this crazy idea and actually apply it with science and the firefighters.” - XPRIZE Wildfire Technical Lead Jay Stalnacker 🔥 “It’s super exciting to see the technology and the capabilities that are potentially out there.” - XPRIZE Wildfire judge and Emergency Services Director for the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office Justin Whitesell Special thanks to McGregor Square and the Colorado Rockies for donating the space for the event. XPRIZE Wildfire is supported by: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation  Pacific Gas and Electric Company  Minderoo Foundation cc: Russell Haythorn 

I’m honoured to be a judge for the ambitious XPRIZE Wildfire competition focused on ending destructive wildfires. One of the objectives of the competition is to use space-based Earth observation to accurately detect fires in less than a minute and report processed information such as fire characterization to people on the ground in less than 10 minutes. What excites me most about this, apart from the innovative solutions, is the judging panel and the process. Unlike many other evaluations I have been a part of, the group of judges includes the actual end-users i.e. the firefighters and fire managers on the ground. Stay tuned for more updates!