42 FORTUNE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2021
government coordinating
aerial resources to fight
what was that country’s
worst fire ever. But the
tools he was given to
predict the fire’s spread
weren’t exactly up-to-date:
“The maps that we used
were the maps the U.S. Air
Force made of Spain—in
1957,” Ramirez recalls.
Chooch AI, another
startup, works to help spot
wildfires more quickly so
that firefighters can be
deployed while a fire is
still tiny. It uses cam-
eras axed to drones and
installed in existing fire
lookout towers—the kind
that used to be manned
by humans—to monitor
for smoke.
The live images are sent
via the Internet for analysis
by Chooch’s systems, which
have been trained to recog-
nize smoke based on video
ment, says Bilal Zuberi,
a partner at Lux Capital,
which has invested in
makers of drones that are
deployed after disasters.
That amount is minus-
cule compared with the
$300 billion that VCs
invested last year globally,
according to accounting
firm KPMG. The muted
enthusiasm, Zuberi says,
results in part from the low
likelihood of a big payoff
from fire tech and an aver-
sion to the slow govern-
ment contracting process.
It’s unclear whether tech
innovations will have more
than a marginal effect on
managing fires and reduc-
ing the destruction they
cause. A key problem is the
increasing construction of
homes in dry, fire-prone
areas. Climate change,
which has contributed to
drought and hotter temper-
atures across much of the
West, is another. (For more
on the economic impact of
California’s wildfires, see
page 134.)
Ultimately, successfully
dousing fires hinges on tra-
ditional firefighting tech-
niques and not whiz-bang
tech, says Michael Thomas,
a professor with the fire
protection program at
California State University,
Los Angeles, and a former
battalion chief with the Los
Angeles Fire Department.
“By and large, the most
effective fire suppression
agent is still water, par-
ticularly water hoses that
are advanced by crews,” he
says. “And then, of course,
water drop capabilities
from the sky to hit the head
of the fire when it’s moving
aggressively.”footage from past infernos.
The technology also factors
in other elements, like the
presence of cars or people,
to determine whether a fire
is a threat or something to
be ignored, like a campfire.
After deciding that action
is warranted, the system
alerts authorities by email.
The company already oper-
ates in Turkey, where it
monitors 15 locations with
380 cameras, and, as soon
as October, will start pro-
viding alerts to California’s
National Guard.
Controlled burns, used
as a preventive measure
against fires and to stop
much larger ones from ad-
vancing, are another tradi-
tional firefighting strategy
that tech is reinventing.
Drone Amplified sells
drone attachments that
carry as many as 400 Ping-
Pong–size balls filled withcombustible chemicals.
When the drones reach
their target area, the pilot
controlling them from
afar presses a button so
that the aircraft drop their
payloads and start small
fires. Because wildfires are
often in rugged terrain,
using drones for the job
lets firefighters react more
quickly while minimiz-
ing the risk of injury. The
system is already being
used by the Department
of the Interior, the Bureau
of Land Management, and
the U.S. Forest Service.
Despite the increased
attention to firefighting
tech, investment in the
sector remains relatively
tiny. During the past few
years, venture capital-
ists plowed only about
$100 million to $200 mil-
lion into companies fo-
cused on wildfire manage-THE BRIEF WILDFIRESPREDICTIONS
Digital maps show-
ing where fires will
likely go next help
firefighters better
plan their attack.
The predictions are
a product of A.I.,
which factors in
weather and topo-
graphic data.
FIRE SPOTTING
Companies like
Chooch AI feed
video from cameras
installed on drones
and lookout towers
into A.I. that can
spot smoke. Fire
managers get an
alert if the tech
detects a potential
inferno.NEW FIRE
RETARDANTSFire retardants have
long been used to
stop fires that are al-
ready burning. Now
a new generation of
retardant has been
developed that is
spread proactively
to prevent fires
from even starting—potentially for
months. Studies are
mixed, however, on
whether such retar-
dants are effective.CONTROLLED FIRESInstead of hiking
into remote areas
to start controlled
burns, firefight-
ers can now send
a drone modified
by Drone Ampli-
fied. The drones
drop combustible
“dragon balls” to
start fires. The idea
is to help firefight-ers avoid injury and
control wildfires
faster.HOME PROTECTIONHomeowners
seeking to bet-
ter fireproof their
properties can
enlist Fire Maps,
which uses drones
to create 3D im-
ages of houses and
terrain to pinpoint
vulnerabilities. The
company then con-
nects homeowners
with contractors to
fix any problems.NEW TOOLS FOR TACKLING FIRE
Firefighters and, to a lesser extent, homeowners can use recently
developed technology to help protect life and property.