Unlight my Fire - Post-Wildfire Revitilization

Our solution aims to aid the members of our community that have been affected by local wildfires by providing support to families and rejuvenating the scarred / damaged land.

Every summer, wildfires ravage through the west coast of the United States, displacing families and destroying precious ecosystems that house endangered animals and farmland. This problem has only been furthered by the advancement of climate change, with more and more wildfires causing destruction every year due to increased temperatures and droughts. 

Most importantly, the environmental impact of wildfires is vast. These fires lay waste to farmland by destroying farm structures and razing important local crops. The average recovery time for damaged soil is around 76 years, inhibiting the ability for new plants and crops to grow on this damaged land. The burnt soil can also cause animal ecosystems to collapse because it can impact tree regeneration, soil erosion, water quality, and food sources in the area, threatening the survival of local wildlife. Another noticeable impact of wildfires is stormwater runoff. A loss of plant life causes the forest soil to become hydrophobic, repelling water and large amounts of debris into local waterways such as rivers and lakes.

Another problem with wildfires is the damage they cause to local communities. In 2022 alone, California wildfires burned 363,939 acres of land and damaged / destroyed 876 structures. These fires can force families to evacuate and destroy hundreds of homes and communities. A specific instance is the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The fire caused at least 85 civilian fatalities and destroyed more than 18,000 structures, including five public schools and thousands of homes. 1,000 families were displaced by the fire and were still looking for housing 6 months later. The devastating nature of wildfires have caused many other situations similar to this.

While wildfires do cause a vast amount of destruction, they do possess some ecological benefits. Several plants require regular burns in order to spread seeds and distribute themselves across the forest. Smaller wildfires also clear underbrush which reduces the impact of more destructive fires in the future, they can also remove excess debris from the forest floor and kill insects that may be affecting the health of local wildlife. However, the benefits of these fires are slow to emerge due to the amount of time it takes for burnt soil to fully recover, a massive problem in the aftermath of wildfires.

Our solution also serves to cover one final problem - paper waste. Approximately one billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the United States. There are many uses for recycled paper, but unfortunately many of them are not used, resulting in a mass waste of useful product. 

Our solution is a chemically created conditioner that will cover the soil burned by wildfires, providing the land with essential nutrients and protection from outside elements. 

The conditioner is composed of mainly nitrogen and phosphorus. These chemicals are essential to plant growth and will provide the necessary nutrients to facilitate the regrowth of flora in the scarred area. Most importantly, however, is the used of recycled paper in our conditioner. The paper will act as a protective layer for the soil, shielding it against harmful elements. It also keeps the nutrients in the soil compacted, allowing for more efficient rejuvenation. Using recycled paper also provides a use for all the paper that sits unused in landfills, waste dumps, etc. Over time, the solution would melt away under rain and wind, and the paper will break down into the soil.

We believe we can expedite the delivery of our conditioner onto damaged land via the use of agricultural drones. The drones would be equipped with a gps system in order to map the area and effectively distribute the soil conditioner, and would use AI software to intelligently determine how much conditioner to drop. They would also provide feedback on how much land they covered and any other applicable data.

Our target population is people who have been affected by wildfires in the west coast of the United States. This includes people such as farmers, rural population, families, etc. Almost everyone in our community has been affected in one way or another by these fires, and we want to improve their lives.

Wildfires have caused many problems for the people in our community. Farmers have had their land and crops destroyed, and usually don't have the funds required to buy new land or fix their own. Many families living on rural land have had their homes ruined, and must scramble to find to a new place to live. Additionally, the smoke from wildfires has affected the health of many people in our community, specifically those with lung problems.

Our solution aims to address this in two ways. First of all, our soil rejuvenating conditioner will heal the land burnt by wildfires more efficiently than current methods, allowing farmers to regain their land and return to their old practices. This will also allow families to rebuild their damaged homes and take back their lives in the country. Finally, we will put together community service efforts in order to help those affected by wildfires get the help they need, ranging from problems with their health to finding a new place to live. This community service will also provide information on fire prevention and what our community can to do to prevent wildfires from happening in the future.

Our team, consisting of four students, has a great deal of experience in the matter of wildfires. We've grown up around these fires and have been affected by them throughout our lives. Many members of our community have had their homes destroyed and lives thoroughly altered by these tragic events, and we've experienced this first hand. Additionally, smoke generated from wildfires has significantly affected our lives. Our schools have been closed numerous times to due unsafe air quality, and it inhibits our ability to be outside especially, in the summer months. We've also had family members and friends who have had health problems due to the smoke, such as lung and cardiovascular issues. 

We also have the skills necessary to pitch and deliver our solution. Our team is part of the Business Academy in our high school, where we learn presentation skills, effective leadership, and the ability to take on large projects. This has helped us conduct interviews and thoroughly research our problem, and it will also help us effectively deliver our solution in the future. 

Finally, we all have numerous hours of volunteer service that has taught us how to understand the experiences and lives of people in our community. For example, we recently traveled to various wildfire sites in California, which allowed us to witness first-hand the destruction that they cause and how they impacted the community. We also interviewed local residents to see how the fires had affected their lives and to gather research on how wildfire prevention could be improved. Gaining this primary research has significantly improved the way we think about this vast problem in front of us, allowing our team to better our solution. 

First of all, our team has traveled to various wildfire sites in California in order to determine the scope of our problem and the people affected by it. For example, in November of 2022 we traveled to Auburn and Foresthill CA to examine the area affected by the Mosquito Fire. The fire began on September 7th, lasted until October 22nd, and burnt 76,788 acres of land. While we were here we interviewed various residents to see how the fire affected them, and also collected burnt soil samples in order to research and test our solution. We also consulted with the local Forest Service to see how they dealt with the fire and how it affected them. 

We've also sought information from and worked with various organizations in our area. A notable example is the Desert Research Institute, in Reno NV. We received feedback on our solution from Dr. Tim Brown, a climatology research professor and director of the western regional climate center. We've built off of this feedback and it allowed us to improve our solution. 

Our solution is innovative because it provides an efficient way to combat the after effects of wildfires. Current rejuvenation efforts are slow and often do not cover the entire problem or affected area.

Our solution improves this by acting fast on the damaged soil and providing protection for it while it regenerates. We expect to enable much more positive impacts with our conditioner than current solutions can meet because we have an efficient system of deploying it. Our solution also employs the nutrients needed for regrowth all in one conditioner, allowing for more efficient revitalization of soil. 

We intend to begin using our solution on small amounts of scarred land to see how effective it is at rejuvenating the soil, and also how efficient the delivery of it is. We intend to achieve them by working with local organizations such as the Forest Service in order to streamline our testing and get feedback from them. 

In the future, we hope that our solution will be used widely to combat the effects of wildfires all over the globe. 

For our solv[ED] solution, we need to use chemistry for the application of technology. The technology we use is the conditioner for the soil. This conditioner is made of  pulverized recycled paper and a mixed in compound of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Nitrogen is used in the compound mainly because it is a major component of chlorophyll, as well as amino acids needed to feed the soil and all the plants growing in it. Nitrogen turns into gas that is lost during a wildfire, Replacing it after a fire is vital for faster plant growth. Phosphorus is required in the compound because it is important  for cell division as well as growing the tip of the plant, Because of this it’s essential for seedlings and young plants to grow. Potassium increases root growth, this helps new/struggling  plants to grow  and stay healthy over time, making it perfect for regrowing after a wildfire because roots help give soil structure and retain water.  The pulverized paper is made by blending recycled paper and water together to give it the right consistency and to add/keep water into the soil. The pulverized paper itself creates a layer over the soil to hold moisture in the soil for longer periods of time, protect the soil from the elements, and moderate soil temperature. Overall, this technology is perfect for healing burnt soil and bringing it back to life simply using recycled paper and our compound to give it the soil the nutrients and  protection it needs to recover and thrive after a wildfire. 

Additionally, our plan to deliver the conditioner involves the use of drones. The drones will incorporate GPS technology which will allow them to map the areas that have been damaged by wildfires, and will also allow them to navigate across the land. They will also contain AI technology which will give the them the power to autonomously fly and and determine the best locations to distribute the conditioner. 

Currently, our solution is a prototype and is not serving the population as of yet. However, we have worked with local research organizations such as the Desert Research Institute in order to test the feasibility of our conditioner and get feedback from professionals. 

In one year, we intend for our solution to serve people across the west coast that have lost farmland and homes. Our conditioner will help revitalize the land destroyed by the fires, allowing these people to return to their land. This number will probingly be around 100 - 500 people, because of the time it takes to rejuvenate the soil and to rebuild farm structures, crops, etc.

The barriers that we have as a group is mostly money and equipment. The money factor contributes to how much we can buy to experiment with our product and where we can travel to test on different types of soil. Since we do not have enough financial support means we cannot test our idea to its maximum capacity. Our other limitation is equipment. Since we do not have access to high technological equipment our test cannot be as accurate as we want them to be.

Desert Research Institute, gaining research and mentorship from them. 

Our key customers would be the firefighting and planting industries. While our aim is to provide help for both the victims of the fires and the local flora and fauna, by the definition of customer we would be serving the firefighting industry. Beyond the uses of help on a large scale, the product could be distributed locally and on a smaller, perhaps commercial level. With the design of this product we believe we could bring life to soil that naturally lacks nutrients like that found in the mountains of Nevada. 

We will fund our endeavors via government contracts. It is our hope that we will be able to work alongside the governments, be it local or national, to solve the issues of restoration. Furthermore, we could sell this product as an individual product used for domestic use for a consumer's garden, lawn, or something of the sort.