Firefighting drones in the works as wildfires plague US nearly year-round
摘要
今年夏季，加州和阿拉斯加测试了可喷洒水和阻燃剂的消防无人机，展示其在应对因气候变化而几乎全年频发的野火中的快速响应潜力。尽管无人机体积小、航程短，无法替代大型灭火飞机，但公司和消防机构正通过XPRIZE竞赛等途径，探索其协助快速扑灭小规模火灾的能力。7月15日，加州林业与消防局与FireWERX及Seneca公司合作，测试了五架自主无人机协同喷洒500至10
Drones capable of spraying water and fire retardants have been practicing how to snuff out wildfires early in California and Alaska this summer—demonstrating a possible rapid-response tool for firefighting as climate change transforms wildfire season into a nearly year-round risk for much of the United States.
Most drones are significantly smaller than crewed aircraft and have shorter flight ranges, meaning they cannot replace large airtankers in delivering massive payloads of water or other fire-suppressing payloads to remote wildfires. But companies and fire agencies—along with organizers of the $11 million XPRIZE competition—are testing whether drones can help firefighting crews respond more quickly to small fires and put them out before they become more destructive.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as CAL FIRE, ran its own field test involving five autonomous drones that worked together to deploy between 500 and 1,000 gallons of foam combined for suppressing fires on July 15, according to the TV station KPMH. The demonstration was organized with the help of the nonprofit FireWERX and the California-based company Seneca, which is making the drones commercially available starting in 2026.
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