A NEW RECRUIT has joined the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District, capable of things that would require an entire crew. But here’s the kicker: It’s not human.
Introducing the BurnBot, a tractor-size robot that rolls through fire-prone vegetation, grinding it into wood chips to reduce fuel loads and lower the risk of wildfires. Designed by the San Francisco-based BurnBot Inc., the machine is remotely controlled and rolls forward at up to 3.7 mph.
District Fire Marshal Roy Wendel said that “by reducing fuels in critical fire passes, we’ve basically increased the defensibility of certain areas of the district because fire has less fuel as it’s burning along the path, so it’s going to move much slower, and that provides a greater level of protection at the community level.”
The machine has been in use since June in fields, wildland areas, and neighborhoods adjacent to potential fire fuel.
A rotating drum with teeth at the front of the BurnBot crushes and grinds brush, downed limbs, and small trees while an operator controls it remotely from behind.
Doing the work of a whole crew of people
The district’s contract with BurnBot will extend until August at a cost not to exceed $400,000. Wendel said the BurnBot is cost-efficient.
“Instead of sending 10 or 20 people out there with hand tools to do all this work,” he said, “just one person with this remote masticator can do about an acre a day.”
The average 20-person fire crew costs about $1,000 to $2,500 per acre, he said, while the BurnBot costs about $800 to $2,500 per acre, depending on the terrain. The machine is faster than a fire crew, and the land it covers will require less upkeep because it is mulched so well that the brush will take longer to grow back, which means firefighters will not have to return to that spot as often, ultimately saving money.
The BurnBot also deals with areas more dangerous to crews. The company says it can climb slopes as steep as 55% and work in areas with poisonous plants.
The district utilizes computers, satellite images, cameras near high-risk fire areas, and other technologies to determine where to grind fuel, thereby helping prevent wildfires, cutting blazes short, and making them easier to contain.
However, with machines that provide so many benefits, there is also at least one cost.
Will deployment lead to unemployment?
According to Candace Andersen, who is on the Contra Costa Fire Protection District board and chairs the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, there are trade-offs with technology. Though she said she did not know the cost of the BurnBot, she pointed out that jobs might be at stake.
“I will also add that there’s always a concern with any automation, of will it take away jobs?” she said. “And you have to balance that as well because you want people to continue to work, to be able to be paid for their employment, and so, I think that would be one concern that people might have is, will this replace firefighters who might want to continue with their jobs?” she pointed out.
She also stated that the county has other approaches to fire safety, including a community warning system, evacuation zones, and maps to tell people where to go in the case of an emergency, and they also urged residents to prepare in case of evacuation.
Other methods are on the horizon in addition to the BurnBot, she said. Already, Contra Costa County is using cameras, computers, and satellites to spot smoke and to identify fires in urban areas, further increasing the protection in the community.
The San Ramon Valley district likewise has a fire safety approach beyond the BurnBot. It created the Exterior Hazard Abatement Program more than 20 years ago to reduce wildfire risk and prevent the spread of wildfires between properties. Every year, it informs thousands of property owners about the program and requires them to remove overgrown grass, shrubbery, trees, or weeds to lower risks.
Mya Eifler is a 10th grader at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville and a CCYJ reporter. She is a member of the school’s journalism club, the Wolfprint. This story originally appeared in CCSpin.