The Symbiosis Fund

Problems with Fires

Today fire fighters have to rely on planes and helicopters to get to remote parts of the vegetation and wilderness to put out fires. Until recently I was not even aware of smoke jumpers who are firemen/women that jump off a plane into fire areas to contain the fire. However, these current methods have several downsides such as putting human lives in harm’s way, difficulty in exactly locating the fires and challenges in dropping off fire retardants. The trips the planes and helicopters have to take is time & fuel consuming, while the fires continue to rage destroying the environment, wildlife, properties. Weather conditions make things worse for the pilots to make these trips and drop the retardants at the exact location.

Proposal For A Solution

We could use surface to air missile launchers to propel bio degradable capsules that are guided to the fire location using GPS. The capsule is fired off a surface to air missile kind of launcher and has a GPS guiding system that allows it to navigate to the exact coordinates where the fire is raging based on pure projectile trajectory. The capsules contain several smaller canisters arranged in rows and layers. Each of the canisters have fire retardants in them.The outer capsule is stronger than the internal canisters. Upon impact, the capsule collapses breaking the internal canisters allowing the fire retardant to spread over the fire. The capsule and the canisters within are made up of bio degradable material and hence will decompose faster than plastics and other metals requiring no garbage collection.

Advantages of this Modern Method

This approach offers numerous benefits over traditional aerial firefighting. Since the launchers can be positioned anywhere closest to the fire site that are accessible by road, proximity to the fires is no longer a challenge. Due to accessibility, replenishing the capsules is much easier. With constant firing of capsules, less time is wasted in containing the fires. The possibility of directing the capsule towards the exact location of the fire area makes the outcome more predictable. As a result fires can be controlled quicker before spreading while reducing the risk of firemen and firewomen getting into harm’s way. The risk from weather conditions is also minimized as the planes and helicopters do not have to fly long distances in adverse weather conditions. There is also less use of fossil fuels being burnt from flying the planes and helicopters.

~ Bala Cuddalore While this is an idea, I would encourage all those billionaires to take this idea and build this or similar improvised solutions to support the brave firemen for whom I have the utmost respect. Save this planet from climatic change, reduce the impact to the wildlife living in these wilderness and keep our firemen and firewomen safe by implementing some such solution. Thanks for reading!