INSIGHTS

IMAGINE A WORLD where humanity and wildfire can safely co-exist. Where wildfires are rapidly and accurately detected, allowing for the safe management of environmentally beneficial fires and swift response to high-risk fires.

XPRIZE Wildfire is a 4-year, $11M competition that will incentivize teams to innovate firefighting technologies that will transform the practices of a crucial industry that have not changed in a century, and end destructive wildfire events.

Extreme wildfires are on the rise. Globally, the severity of wildfires is increasing—they spread faster and burn larger areas at higher intensities.

Wildfire is essential to the ecological health of certain forest ecosystems, clearing away dead plant debris to make way for new growth and forming an integral part of the life cycle of an ecosystem. However, extreme and destructive wildfires are different, wreaking havoc on the expanding Wildland-Urban Interface—where homes, businesses, and major infrastructure are most at risk, creating long-term economic burdens and catastrophic consequences. While only around 3% of all wildfires are extreme, they drive over 80% of total associated fire damages and account for an increasing percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions.

As extreme wildfires become more frequent, there is a pressing urgency to advance firefighting practices with innovation.
XPRIZE Wildfire is offered in partnership with Co-Title Sponsors Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Pacific Gas & Electric, Presenting Sponsor Minderoo Foundation, Bonus Prize Sponsor Lockheed Martin and Supporting Sponsor Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and individual benefactors.