Coordinated autonomous system ordered for Colorado wildfire response
Aspen Fire Protection District is set to receive a coordinated autonomous wildfire suppression system from Seneca in summer 2026.
Seneca announced the five-year, multi-million dollar partnership in a PRNewswire release.
The Seneca Strike Team will comprise five autonomous suppression aircraft, a mobile operations base and five years of software, connectivity and maintenance.
Each strike team has a capacity of approximately 500 gallons of finished foam per sortie.
A single pilot can operate multiple aircraft due to the system’s artificial intelligence and autonomy capabilities.
The system is intended to support operations in the wildland – urban interface (WUI).
Funding, intended uses and training timeline
According to the PRNewswire release, the aircraft system acquisition was supported through public private partnerships involving Aspen Fire Protection District (AFPD), the Aspen Fire Foundation and local donors.
Over the coming years, Seneca and AFPD aim to deploy additional autonomous aerial response bases.
Those bases are designed to respond within seconds of detection to reach new starts earlier.
The system is intended to help with starts in inaccessible areas, support night operations, maintain the safety of pile and prescribed burns and carry equipment on incidents in complex terrain.
Stuart Landesberg, Founder and CEO of Seneca, said: “Aspen has a unique blend of high-risk terrain, exceptional collaboration across their valley, and a highly skilled and forward-thinking team.
“They understand the importance of modernizing wildfire response to safeguard communities across the American West.”
Chief Jake Andersen, Fire Chief and CEO of Aspen Fire, said: “We are partnering with Seneca because this technology will help us save homes and save lives.
“Wildfires in our region are moving faster and growing more complex every year.
“Stu and the full Seneca team have listened to firefighters and built a system designed for the realities we face on the ground.
“This gives us another critical tool to protect our community before small starts become major incidents.
“We are grateful to the donors who partnered with Aspen Fire to make this possible, and we are proud to bring this capability to Aspen this summer.”
Aspen Fire expects training to begin in the early summer, with firefighters integrating Seneca into their core operations as fire season intensifies.