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by Audrey Mayer
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — BurnBot Inc. performed a live demonstration of some of their technology designed to help lower wildfire risk in the Tahoe-Truckee region Wednesday. Fire officials, community organizers, media, and the greater community got a first hand look at their remote-controlled land mastication tools clearing out debris in an Incline Village neighborhood.
The 7500-8000 pound machine can munch up dry plants on steep slopes and other harsh terrain and clear vegetation an estimated ten times faster than hand crews.
"They're going to do twenty-two acres in three days and that's just one project at one time," said Tahoe Fund CEO, Amy Berry. "If we can prove out the value of this, everybody gets to touch and see that it really works. We could have BurnBots operating all over the Basin."
BurnBot Inc. technology has already rolled out in other areas of California and Oregon. They hope to expand even further, with a branch already set up in Australia.
“We're not here to replace a hand crew — or even compare ourselves to hand crew — but what we're here to do is, now we can treat this faster than they could and free them up to go do stuff that we can't even approach with our machines," said Simon Weibel, Head of Operations at BurnBot Inc.
According to BurnBot Inc., what a hand crew can do in fifteen days, BurnBot can complete within two to three days.
We'll keep you updated on any further progress of BurnBot in the Tahoe-Truckee region.
If you'd like to invest in innovative ideas to protect Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Fund has implemented a philanthropic venture capital fund the Smartest Forest Fund.