BIOnic, Will it Save Us?
Written by Nicole Linares
The world was burning and not metaphorically. For the past 20 years we had been
fighting fatal wildfires, but this year was different. This year the systems that had kept us safe
before were failing.
When I was a kid, I could remember the sage coloured canopies and the smell of fresh cut
grass welcoming the spring and summer months. Regardless of warm weather, the cool breeze
never failed to brush against my cheeks as a reminder of the cold months that lay ahead. Sure,
there were wildfires when the summer days got hotter, but firefighting teams were still able to
tackle their spread and manage the destruction. However, as the years passed, the days got hotter,
winters melted away, fires got stronger, their spread uncontrollable, and the devastation and loss
became harder to mitigate.
Things took a turn 12 years ago, when a massive wildfire engulfed most of the continent,
leaving behind only 35% of major infrastructure. In the wake of these flames, a barren land left
behind. As an attempt to rebuild the forest ecosystems that were lost, trees were planted in large
numbers, but all restoration attempts were fruitless. Wildfires had become the norm, the
environment on brink of annihilation, and it was only a matter of time before major loss of
civilian life and irreversible damages to society occurred.
Human fire mitigation was no longer enough and a permanents solution that stopped the
spread of wildfires without jeopardizing thousands of civilian lives needed to be developed.
Biologist and engineers worked closely together to design the BIOnic Tree, a
mechanically engineered tree that was expected to revolutionize wildfire prevention. This tree
was created by genetically crossing local tree species with pyrophyte, wildfire resistant plants, to
grow trees with thicker bark that act as insulation to prevent total burning of the tree.
Additionally, these trees were designed to have resprouting buds that are revealed and spread
when exposed to the extreme temperatures experienced in a fire. Most importantly, a mechanical
root system was used to replace the biological tree roots. These served the purposes of stabilizing
the tree and absorbing water and nutrients from the soil. The major difference with the
mechanical roots is that they stored a portion of the water absorbed from the roots and pumped
the water up the tree trunk, spraying water from tree pores to stop wildfires from spreading.
The BIOnic Trees had been sufficient for the last 10 years. They primarily prevented the
development and spread of mega fires, slowing down major structural damage and loss of
civilian life. This year was different. This year fires where doubling in size daily and the BIOnic
Trees were no longer holding back the flames. News showed stories of flames blazing through
grocery stores and schools outside of the city, leaving only minutes for people to escape. The
BIOnic Tress acting as nothing but just kindling further feeding the ravenous fires.
In the big cities, people always assumed they were safe. We thought there was no way
they would let a fire bulldoze through the remaining metropolitan areas on the continent, but the
flames were closing in. We could feel the heat radiating on us with nowhere to go. The fire
surrounded the border of the city, we were sitting ducks waiting to see if we would get roasted.
I looked out of my ash covered glass windows from my skyrise apartment, the air quality
too low to even go outside. There they were, about 25km away, the fires were starting to chew at
the outer city buildings. It was only a matter of time before those too were consumed by the
blazes. Worry was growing in my stomach, and I couldn’t help but question our survival as the
dust covering the city thickened. What if the systems we had built to keep us safe were no longer
strong enough to protect us from the engulfing flames below?
References
Petruzzello, M. (2014, April 7). Playing with Wildfire: 5 Amazing Adaptations of Pyrophytic
Plants. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/list/5-amazing-adaptations-of-pyrophytic-plants
Weeden, M. (2024, March 14). How Trees Clean Water. One Tree Planted.
https://onetreeplanted.org/blogs/stories/trees-clean-water
