以前,消防人员只能推测森林火源位置、火势移动快慢、林木和下层林丛燃烧速度,以及应在何处设置迎火来阻止灾情蔓延。一次错误的估计,可能将一场小型灌木林火误认为是毁灭性森林火灾,或出现相反的情况。火灾每年毁坏美国近 2400万亩森林,造成数十亿美元损失,美国政府还要花费数亿美元扑灭林火。美国消防部门正积极利用高科技手段参与森林火灾预警及扑救工作,取得了一定的成效。 In the past, firefighters had been able to speculate only on the location of fire sources, the speed of fire movements, the burning rate of trees and the lower forest, and where to set fire to prevent the spread of the disaster. A false assessment could mistakenly identify a small shrub fire as a devastating forest fire or vice versa. The fire destroyed nearly 24 million acres of forests in the United States each year, causing billions of dollars in damages and the U.S. government spending hundreds of millions of dollars on forest fires. The U.S. fire department is actively using high-tech means to participate in forest fire early warning and fighting and has achieved some success.