Fighting fire with robots BurnBot RX1 prototype snuffs out scorched earth during a prescribed burn
By Coco Liu
Cody Chiverton has spent a decade lighting fires. As a former firefighter with the US Forest Service, he participated in dozens of prescribed burns across the American West, in which fire-prevention teams use drip torches to ignite vegetation, leaving flames and smoke in their wake.
But in June, Chiverton did a prescribed burn with no flames and no smoke. Instead, a tank-like robot pulled by a remote-controlled tractor handled the igniting. As it moved along a hiking trail near Palo Alto, California, the robot turned anything in its path into a dark trail of ash.
"It's a cool tool," says Chiverton, 31, who this year joined San Francisco-based BurnBot. The startup doesn't sell its robots (it has made two so far). Instead, forest managers, property owners and utilities book them on demand, at prices that start in the neighborhood of $1,000 per acre.
A BurnBot prototype produces a containment line. Photographer: Philip Pacheco/Bloomberg
Prescribed or controlled burns have long been used by indigenous groups to manage wildfire risk. Clearing excess vegetation reduces a forest's fuel load, making it less likely a blaze will break out or spread. But it's a manpower-intensive process. BurnBot's June burn covered an area the size of an American football field using a five-member crew; Chiverton says the same job sans robot would have needed 10 people.
BurnBot's machine aims to make those burns easier and safer. In addition to reducing manpower needs, it keeps combustion in a burning chamber, where propane torches and air blowers bring flame temperatures up to 1,000C (1,832F). Industrial-scale fans create upward airflow, trapping the flames and embers and minimizing the risk of fire spreading outside.
That's a key concern: Igniting vegetation is easier in dry weather, but fire services often prohibit it because of the risk a blaze will spin out of control. In 2022, escaped fire from two prescribed burns turned into the largest wildfire in New Mexico's history.
BurnBot's burns are also largely smoke-free, as the intense heat, combined with a high-concentration stream of oxygen, destroys particulate matter. BurnBot CEO Anukool Lakhina describes it as "burning the smoke."
That feature captured the interest of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, California's largest utility, which typically avoids prescribed burns near its 18,500 miles (30,000 kilometers) of transmission lines because the smoke is a safety hazard. The utility greenlit a demo of BurnBot's technology last year. Kevin Johnson, an analyst who vets innovative wildfire solutions for PG&E, says he "couldn't see the smoke or smell the smoke."
A roller on the back of a remote-controlled BurnBot RX1 prototype snuffs out scorched earth during a prescribed burn. Photographer: Philip Pacheco/Bloomberg
There's an acute need to improve fire management globally. Greece, Turkey and Canada are all dealing with multiple forest fires this summer, and California is tackling one of the worst fires in state history. Climate change is also exacerbating the conditions that make blazes bigger and more frequent, which means more communities and infrastructure at risk, and more carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere as forests are destroyed.
BurnBot is part of a nascent but fast-growing "fire tech" sector that's focused on prevention, detection and suppression. San Francisco-based Pano AI uses artificial intelligence-enabled cameras to spot fires when they're still small, while Alameda, California-based Rain makes autonomous helicopters to target blazes from above and France's Shark Robotics builds firefighting robots for the frontlines.
Perfecting the tech isn't the only hurdle. To get more fire authorities on board, BurnBot recruited dozens of former firefighters and forestry professionals like Chiverton, who can do double duty as operational crew and advocates for technology-aided wildfire control. Lakhina says the US Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated billions of dollars to fire management, is also channeling more attention to tech-based fire solutions. So is the plight of overworked firefighters.
Cody Chiverton has spent a decade lighting fires. As a former firefighter with the US Forest Service, he participated in dozens of prescribed burns across the American West, in which fire-prevention teams use drip torches to ignite vegetation, leaving flames and smoke in their wake.
But in June, Chiverton did a prescribed burn with no flames and no smoke. Instead, a tank-like robot pulled by a remote-controlled tractor handled the igniting. As it moved along a hiking trail near Palo Alto, California, the robot turned anything in its path into a dark trail of ash.
"It's a cool tool," says Chiverton, 31, who this year joined San Francisco-based BurnBot. The startup doesn't sell its robots (it has made two so far). Instead, forest managers, property owners and utilities book them on demand, at prices that start in the neighborhood of $1,000 per acre.
A BurnBot prototype produces a containment line. Photographer: Philip Pacheco/Bloomberg
Prescribed or controlled burns have long been used by indigenous groups to manage wildfire risk. Clearing excess vegetation reduces a forest's fuel load, making it less likely a blaze will break out or spread. But it's a manpower-intensive process. BurnBot's June burn covered an area the size of an American football field using a five-member crew; Chiverton says the same job sans robot would have needed 10 people.
BurnBot's machine aims to make those burns easier and safer. In addition to reducing manpower needs, it keeps combustion in a burning chamber, where propane torches and air blowers bring flame temperatures up to 1,000C (1,832F). Industrial-scale fans create upward airflow, trapping the flames and embers and minimizing the risk of fire spreading outside.
That's a key concern: Igniting vegetation is easier in dry weather, but fire services often prohibit it because of the risk a blaze will spin out of control. In 2022, escaped fire from two prescribed burns turned into the largest wildfire in New Mexico's history.
BurnBot's burns are also largely smoke-free, as the intense heat, combined with a high-concentration stream of oxygen, destroys particulate matter. BurnBot CEO Anukool Lakhina describes it as "burning the smoke."
That feature captured the interest of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, California's largest utility, which typically avoids prescribed burns near its 18,500 miles (30,000 kilometers) of transmission lines because the smoke is a safety hazard. The utility greenlit a demo of BurnBot's technology last year. Kevin Johnson, an analyst who vets innovative wildfire solutions for PG&E, says he "couldn't see the smoke or smell the smoke."
A roller on the back of a remote-controlled BurnBot RX1 prototype snuffs out scorched earth during a prescribed burn. Photographer: Philip Pacheco/Bloomberg
There's an acute need to improve fire management globally. Greece, Turkey and Canada are all dealing with multiple forest fires this summer, and California is tackling one of the worst fires in state history. Climate change is also exacerbating the conditions that make blazes bigger and more frequent, which means more communities and infrastructure at risk, and more carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere as forests are destroyed.
BurnBot is part of a nascent but fast-growing "fire tech" sector that's focused on prevention, detection and suppression. San Francisco-based Pano AI uses artificial intelligence-enabled cameras to spot fires when they're still small, while Alameda, California-based Rain makes autonomous helicopters to target blazes from above and France's Shark Robotics builds firefighting robots for the frontlines.
Perfecting the tech isn't the only hurdle. To get more fire authorities on board, BurnBot recruited dozens of former firefighters and forestry professionals like Chiverton, who can do double duty as operational crew and advocates for technology-aided wildfire control. Lakhina says the US Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated billions of dollars to fire management, is also channeling more attention to tech-based fire solutions. So is the plight of overworked firefighters.
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