A huge milestone for Dryad was reached earlier this week.
For months now, we've been organizing a series of prescribed burnings over Europe to continue developing our sensors and machine learning algorithms. After conducting a recent prescribed burning in Nuremburg, Germany we decided to leave our sensors in the burnt field to continue monitoring...
Then, while setting up our stand at INTERFORST in Munich with Bosch Security and Safety Systems, we rather unexpectedly received an alert from one of our sensors.
Despite thinking it could be a false alarm, we decided to err on the side of caution and alert the fire services anyway. It turns out it was real! A zombie fire had continued after extinguishing the prescribed burning and the next day's wind had reignited it.
This is the first unplanned wildfire detected by our Silvanet sensor system and it was detected ultra fast. Since we caught it in its smouldering phase, it was an easy task for the fire services to put it out and stop it from spreading.
Why This Matters
We are of course supremely confident in our Silvanet system and have overseen extensive testing and product development. Nevertheless, this first unplanned wildfire detection is a significant milestone for Dryad and further bolsters our conviction that our ultra-early wildfire detection systems will be game-changing.
Vividly demonstrating how easily wildfires can start and spread, a zombie fire was reignited and due to the speed of our detection, we were able to tackle the fire in its smouldering phase before any real damage could be done.
A cursory glance at the news on any given day will persuasively show what can happen when these fires aren't detected early enough and are allowed to take hold.
Scaling Up
So what's next for Dryad? We are currently running 10 Proof of Concept trials in southern Europe, the US and Asia and our first medium-scale rollouts are planned for later this year. Our partners Prüfrex will manufacture a batch of 10,000 sensors in October and we are planning for 230,000 units in 2023.
In the meantime, we continue to grow our team at Dryad and we'll be attending various events in Europe and further afield to showcase our game-changing products. Keep an eye out for us.
Get Involved and Stay Informed
There are many ways to join us in our mission to greatly reduce the catastrophic damage done by wildfires all over the world.
To stay informed, be sure to follow us on our social channels (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook) and join our mailing list for updates.
Dryad are also looking to partner with forest owners to validate our Silvanet solution. If you own or operate a forestry business and are interested in applying for the pilot program, please complete this short application form.