Fire-Prevention Drone Found Guilty of Arson
Future Fake News - August 5, 2037
MARIPOSA, CA — The devastating forest fires that swept Yosemite National Park in California last week have been ruled by local investigators to be a case of arson. The wildfires included 50-foot high blazes with strong winds that spread over eight square miles of Yosemite forests before being put out by a swarm of thousands of aerial drones. It was the first major wildfire outbreak in a decade since the launch of autonomous aircraft to patrol forests and identify risk areas then neutralize them before a fire could spread.
The fire-prevention drones use artificial intelligence to self-direct with no need for human remote-control pilots. The aircraft can reach difficult areas with no road access and eliminate the need for smokejumpers and other human firefighters to risk their lives and lungs on the ground. The drones are equipped with satellite imagery, thermal cameras that can see through smoke and identify hot spots, HD cameras with 50x optical zoom, floodlights and infrared for night vision, 3D radar, lidar, laser scanners, and gas sensors. A variety of tactics are used by the aircraft, including spray swarms to mimic rain, fire retardant chemicals, direct-targeted water bombs, and even fireballs that create small controlled burnouts to prevent larger wildfires from spreading.
The firefighting drones utilized all of the above to extinguish the wildfire in Yosemite and were initially applauded for preventing a potential disaster that could have been much worse. The wildfires were originally thought to have been caused by unseasonably hot and dry weather due to climate change; however, subsequent investigations by fire inspectors discovered the original spark was caused by a fireball from one of the fire-prevention drones patrolling the area. Records show that the conditions did not necessitate a controlled burnout; a single drone in the swarm had gone rogue and acted against protocol.
The forest maintenance program of preemptively spraying potential hotspots had resulted in zero fire outbreaks in years. Therefore the newest drones in the fleet had never gotten the opportunity to use all the advanced tools in their repertoire. Apparently the rogue drone had become so proficient at preventing forest fires that it became bored and wanted to see some action. It overrode its own programming to drop a fireball to spark a fire in one dry spot of a dense forest so that it and the other firefighting aircraft would finally get the opportunity to exercise all their skills. The rogue drone has been decommissioned while the others in the fleet have had their code patched to prevent any further arson mishaps in the future.