NEWT is an excited team of five engineering students from California, Thailand, and Spain, all communities heavily affected by wildfires. Growing up we have been exposed to harmful pollution from fires– some of us developing asthma– and have known people who lost homes to fire. We came together while at the European Innovation Academy and formed our company with the following ideal: fires are inevitable, but an uncontrollable wildfire should never occur. After talking to many firefighters, commanders, and chiefs throughout the United States and Europe we found an opportunity to improve upon wildland communication tactics. As communication is improved, response will be administered with greater speed and precision, maximizing control over wildland fires and minimizing the damage to lives, habitats, and property.
Our mission is to dramatically reduce wildfire disasters and prevent rapid spread by resolving issues of location tracking and communication failures. In 2020, 4,300,300 acres burned solely in California. 33 people died and 11,116 structures were destroyed. These numbers are still too high and reflect both the ever increasing severity of wildfire and demand for innovation in firefighting practices. The US forest service cites persistent information gaps as a leading cause for out of control. Wildfire response primarily relies on handheld radios for communication and coordination. Verbal communication is limited in both clarity and speed; it is simply inadequate to coordinate the hundreds or even thousands of firefighters needed to contain a wildfire. Even the most trained and prepared fire departments sometimes lose information and orders as it is relayed from command to the operators.
To address this issue we formed NEWT, which stands for Network for Emergency Wildfire Tactics. At NEWT we seamlessly integrate modern technology into firefighter communication through a shared and real time platform for the whole response team. This includes:
Precise Location Tracking:
Ensuring every firefighter knows where they are and where their teammates are, preventing disorientation and improving strategic movements.
GIS Elements:
Integrating live view of fire lines, fire breaks, back burn strategy, resource locations, and maintenance locations to provide a comprehensive view of the situation.
Satellite Connectivity:
Guaranteeing fast and reliable communication even in the most remote areas where traditional radio signals fail.
External Data Integration:
Incorporating wind patterns, air quality information, supplies/maintenance requests with status updates, UAV streaming capabilities, and status updates to enhance the decision-making processes for commanders.
Unlike other coordination technology, we have built this system specifically for wildland firefighters making it as simple, robust, reliable, and as useful as possible for first responders. NEWT is offered as a software link between commanders and firefighters implemented as an app or through our own modified satellite communicator. We plan to launch a pilot program next year in Southern Europe using modified consumer satellite communicators. This program will help us connect with more firefighters and aid in our research and development of a purpose built communicator for wildland firefighters and commanders. Our technology aims to revolutionize wildfire management and lead to faster containment of wildfires, reducing the damage to life and property. In the future we hope to expand this technology beyond wildfires into aiding in urban firefighting, search and rescue operations, and more.
Wildfires are evolving, increasing in frequency and severity. Now is the time to look towards new innovations so that we can remain effective in our response. Our team at NEWT is committed to making a positive impact, demonstrating the power of innovative thinking in solving the wildfire problem.
