H.R. 4235, the Wildfire Technology DEMO Act, directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to jointly establish a pilot program within one year of enactment to test new and innovative wildfire prevention, detection, communication, and mitigation technologies. The program will bring together federal, state, tribal, and local fire agencies with private companies, nonprofits, and universities to test emerging tools such as artificial intelligence, quantum sensing, augmented reality, and advanced wireless networks in real-world firefighting conditions. Interested private and academic partners must apply to participate, with priority given to those developing cutting-edge technologies, and the initiative will be folded into the existing National Wildfire Coordinating Group. The agencies must publicly identify technology priorities, conduct outreach to potential partners, and submit annual reports to relevant congressional committees detailing participants, technologies tested, costs, and recommendations for wider adoption. The pilot program will automatically end seven years after the bill becomes law unless renewed.
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