Why do they want to re-invent Boise ? Would it not be easier and less expensive to adapt Boise, if needed ?
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And turning the responsibility in California to CalFire
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Looking at the sponsors, it seems like the newest crop of wildfire technology venture capitalists are licking their chops.
Megafire Action’s COO is the former CEO of Interra, which is NIFC’s incumbent GIS/intel contractor, and Kate Dargan, Interra founder, is on the Megafire Action board of Directors.
Matt Weiner, who started Megafire Action also started the fire tech lobbying group that is one of the groups pushing this idea. Wildfire tech startups launch lobbying group - E&E News by POLITICO
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I just think its funny to think the reason we have mega fires is because of a lack of intelligence or technology. Or the reason the fires are sooo big and destructive is because intel is disjointed. Sure it would be nice if we shared more but come on…
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As suspected… WOW! The cussin & discusin around doing this type of thing has gone on for a long dang minute to say the least! This too - if hammered into existence - will be felt by a great many public sector troops & partners etc…
Fit for Purpose Wildfire Readiness Act of 2025.pdf (25.5 KB)
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Here is an article about the potential benefits of merging USFS into the DOI.
https://medium.com/@Megafire_Action/one-department-for-wildfire-management-661f67032623
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Just FYI.
This draft bill came straight out the the Fire Mitigation and Management Commission report.
The commissioners, your Representative, and your Senator need to hear your feedback.
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sadly nothing changes unless homeowners harden their homes. We have so much control over this.
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The “WRAP ACT” Is it another deathstar? Is it a return to past poor practices? Is it good for #wethepeople?
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5182911-wildfire-response-and-preparedness-act-senate/
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30 minute response time? What’s the definition of that? Wheels rolling, visual of the fire by some means, etc.? Be interesting to see the details of this.
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Lol this is laughable.
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We can’t bomb our way to peace with wildfire, but a lot of folks who already made a fortune in the real business are getting into firewar profiteering. Anyone want to open a Fire Artillery taskbook?
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200k a year per bomber…good grief. It is a 90lb balloon.
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Brain literally scrambled with emotion & ideas after watching the firedome clip. I know better than to poo-poo an idea that i might not see a ton a value in, so i wont. Perhaps this can be a tool even if i dont quite see it. Like i’m not thrilled with the idea of posting up artillery all over our public lands and not sure about shooting these things while responders are underneath them? Does it switch to rapid fire mode in a wind driven fire? What modeling are they using in their sim’s? When the AI starts picking up spots in the eve’s will it start lobbing rounds roof level or lower?? #sporty! Respectfully must say that the retired chief did NOT sell me with his thoughts on application & use in the field. I’m not sold on this or our creation of the Fire Industrial Complex and yet both exist so what do i kno…
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I feel the same way. I’ve been in fire tech since 1999, mainly on the mapping side, and have seen enough carnage to know tech won’t ever be the magic bullet. It’s always hard for me to not just reject new ideas out of hand when they seem completely out of touch with the realities of the conditions under which most of our worst fire disasters unfold, but even the biggest wind storms die down, and a lot of structure losses occur after the main push, when we don’t have the resources to put out every smouldering mulch fire.
I usually come back to a root belief that aggressive fire suppression is at the core of our fuels and megafire crisis, and that we need to get better at living with fire. If new technology for asset protection was going to lead to a new paradigm of letting more fires burn in the wildlands, I’d be more supportive, but we all know this isn’t likely to happen.
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does visual on a camera count?
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Its ok to be bearish on these solutions because you have real world experience and understand the problem. Firedome is a ridiculous idea. It is 90 lbs. just think of the force required to launch a 90lb balloon a 1/4 mile. Next the sensor network required. Its 200k a year! If it doesnt explode and hits you then what? We saw what a tiny drone did to an airtanker. Its just not what anyone needs and its sad to see these get traction like this. I have a story i cant tell you but know this has got the attention of influential people who see this as a solution. Its just ridiculous.
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In terms of where the future of public land management is headed…
Imo, one outcome (perhaps un-intended - perhaps not) from the re-organizing & chopping of land management agencies will result in the largest shift in land management philosophy in my lifetime. In my mind the forthcoming actions will shift us away from a conservationism & stewardship for greater good mindset back to one of pure revenue generation for the greatest amount of $$ mindset? I wonder - what happens in the Rx ecosystem once #fire gets pulled out of current agency’s and put under the OWF? I also wonder what happens next in the agencies that no longer have a fire dept?
Imo it seems like a yellow brick road is being paved for the other industrial complexes #Timber #Gas/Oil/Coal, #Tech & #Aviation to become the new tip of the sword for doing the “peoples work” through mainly contracting & monopolizing each sector. Does that mean those left standing in our land management agency’s become contract managers instead of land managers?
In my lifetime none of the industries mentioned above have NEVER shown a history of doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons for the people - unless it profited them to do so OR they got caught doing un-nicery. Right now there is more executive order pressure than you can shake a stick at pointing the way towards privatization & contracting.
It is not fake news to remind folks that ALL of the good public service #lifers always say they aren’t in it for the $ yet they stick around (and endure the b.s.) because of the mission & the people. Point being its not a $ driven mindset/motivation that gets the land management results we the people need. I go so far as to say that it actually its the exact opposite mindset needed to meet the challenges we all see happening and those yet to come. Idk where i’m going with all this - guess i drank too much green/yellow cool-aid back in the day…
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Perhaps more intel to be learned regarding what the fed firefighting future might look loke… or not.
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