Source: Politico
Sacramento, CA (January 22, 2025) - Can self-piloting helicopters help fight California’s most challenging wildfires? Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris wants to find out.
The Irvine Democrat introduced a bill Tuesday, AB 270, that would require California’s emergency management office to set up a first-in-the-nation pilot program to test autonomous firefighting helicopters.
Petrie-Norris told POLITICO the three-year, $15 million program based out of Orange County would determine how to best deploy the cutting-edge technology when winds are too high for drones or human pilots to fly fire suppression missions.
High winds grounded fire crews during the early stages of the destructive Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles.
“This technology has incredible potential for us to be able to successfully fight wildfires from the air, even when the wind is blowing at just extraordinary speeds,” Petrie-Norris said. “Anything that we can do to change that can save lives and can save property.”