Autonomous Wildfire Soaker

3rd place, MakeMIT Hackathon 2019 (link)

Wildfire is an active and escalating threat to human lives and property.

$2,358,603,800 average annual cost to the US to suppress fires TODO: CITE THIS
3,704 Americans killed in the US
20 wildfire events that caused more than $1 billion in damage; 16 of those have occurred since 2000 [1]
The US wildfire season is on average beginning earlier and continuing for longer [1]
Wildfires spread at an average of 14 mph (22 kph) [2]

Firefighters use fire breaks, or gaps in combustible material, to contain, slow, and direct wildfires away from densely populated areas or fuel. Roads are natural fire breaks!

Firefighters use water trucks to spray the vegetation on either side of a road to prevent the fire from jumping over. However, manpower and gear is limited.

Due to the speed and size of wildfires, large sections cannot be manned or are too dangerous to enter.