Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
fastcompany.com
Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
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Re: Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
#2Betteridge’s law of headlines…
Re: Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
#3Betteridge’s law of headlines…
Better headline: These companies are trying to end megafires
Re: Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
#4Fire is a natural part of the forest lifecycle. We shouldn't try to end it, we should build our housing and infrastructure to minimize the effects of fire on us.
Re: Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
#5I guess it takes a lifetime of wisdom to truly realize companies will never 'end' anything, as their whole existence depends on the thing happening at least enough to keep selling the cure.
Re: Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
#6Fire is a natural part of the forest lifecycle. We shouldn't try to end it, we should build our housing and infrastructure to minimize the effects of fire on us.
There are fires, and there are megafires. They are NOT the same.
The Western landscapes are evolved for regular normal fires. But decades of fire suppression have left us with a massive amount of fuel, so now fires come with a heat and size that the landscape is not evolved to handle. So, for example, trees with thick bark designed to survive fires, instead succumb to the intense heat and burn.
Yes, we need to get back to having regular fires. But we also need to end the artificially created danger of megafires.
Re: Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
#7I guess it takes a lifetime of wisdom to truly realize companies will never 'end' anything, as their whole existence depends on the thing happening at least enough to keep selling the cure.
wait so you're telling me that every political organization that claims to be fighting against e.g. discrimination and inequality is actually wholly dependent on the existence of e.g. discrimination and inequality in order to continue functioning, such that they'll never put an end to the thing that gives them reason to exist in the first place?
Re: Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
#8I guess it takes a lifetime of wisdom to truly realize companies will never 'end' anything, as their whole existence depends on the thing happening at least enough to keep selling the cure.
This is a shallow take. Even on its face it’s wrong. Ending mega-fires would be an ongoing expenditure, since you constantly monitor and manage smaller fires to achieve that.
Plenty of juicy government dollars to sustain vendors in that space indefinitely.
Re: Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
#9I think the article (unintentionally) makes a better argument that these companies are trying to create megafires?
It presents a bunch of startups, most about detecting forest fires earlier, coordinating faster fire department responses, preventing ignition sources, etc. Then it goes on to explain how Megafires are largely caused by a buildup of fuel because we extinguish every small fire and prevented people from doing what we now call prescribed burns.
Of course any tool can be used for good or evil, but aren't most of the described startups more likely to make the situation worse, giving people more tools to prevent fires until so much fuel builds up that an uncontrollable fire develops?
Re: Can we end megafires? These companies are trying to
#10I think the article (unintentionally) makes a better argument that these companies are trying to create megafires? It presents a bunch of startups, most about detecting forest fires earlier, coordinating faster fire department responses, preventing ignition sources, etc. Then it goes on to explain how Megafires are largely caused by a buildup of fuel because we extinguish every small fire and prevented people from do…
Most experts agree that 3 things are required to end megafires: Landscape management, community resilience and fast & aggressive suppression. It's a layered approach - similar to infosec models. No one layer is an effective solution.
Some of the examples in the article are focused on suppression (since that is a bit easier to grasp) - but there are some really exciting examples that exist outside of that. BurnBot, for example, is a robotic device that helps make fuel management more efficient. Overstory uses satellite imagery to help utilities prioritize line trimming and avoid ignitions.
Disclaimer: I am mentioned in the article as a Firetech investor