**Technology**

**What is your opinion on the following technologies that can help in fighting fires?**

Incentives for farmers/ranchers to avoid the use of fire Satellite images to support the preparation of vegetation Drone images to support the preparation of vegetation Camera systems for early fire detection Autonomous drones for early fire detection Artificial intelligence to predict the risk of fire Autonomous drones to monitor the evolution of fires Augmented reality to receive information during operations Mobile device to receive information during operations Voice assistant to receive information during operations

**Figure 2.** Results of the technology survey about forest fires in Spain.

As seen in Figures 1 and 2, the survey samples are very similar, only presenting small variations in the professions and tasks. The professionals could evaluate the utility of the different technologies with five ratings: "very high", "high", "average", "low", and "very low". However, we analyze the results considering three evaluations: positive (including "very high" and "high" answers), neutral (equivalent to "average" answer), and negative (including "low" and "very low" answers).

Three technological solutions for supporting prevention were evaluated: a system with incentives to avoid the use of fire in primary sector activities, satellite images to support the preparation of vegetation, and drone images for the same purpose. In this case, the professionals surveyed evaluate more positively the use of satellite and drone images (approximately, 60–70% positive, 20% neutral, and 10–20% negative).

Another three technological solutions were presented for surveillance and detection tasks: a system with cameras to monitor large and/or remote areas, autonomous drones to cover hard-to-reach areas, and the use of artificial intelligence to predict the risk of fire in every location. This last system received the best rating with 48% positive, 20% neutral, and 32% negative, whereas the other two received ratings of 35–44% positive, 16–24% neutral, and 40–41% negative.

A combination of two technologies was considered for extinguishing tasks: a first one for collecting real-time data from the fire, and a second one to display this data to the firefighter teams. For the first, we presented a fleet of autonomous drones that can monitor fire evolution in real-time. This solution is one of the best valued and the best that uses drones, having 66% positive, 12% neutral, and 22% negative evaluations. For the second, we posed three alternatives: augmented reality headset, mobile device, and voice assistant. The three alternatives are evaluated positively, but the mobile device receives the best score: 81% positive, 15% neutral, and 4% negative. Augmented reality receives 71% positive, 18% neutral, and 11% negative, whereas voice assistant achieves 60% positive, 23% neutral, and 17% negative. These results reveal that participants prefer visual over aural feedback and well-known over new devices, as well as they do not matter using their hands to manage these devices during operations.

A certain bias was detected in the evaluations of technologies by professionals, which positively affects those that are presented as a support for their current operations and negatively those that can change those operations or even threaten their jobs. This can be seen in detection, where they think that artificial intelligence can improve their effectiveness in surveillance, while they feel more threatened by autonomous systems with drones or cameras. Furthermore, the preference for well-known systems for receiving information (mobile devices) over more innovative ones (augmented reality) also reveals this conservative bias.
