Colorado firefighters are using drone-deployed small explosives to combat wildfires.
Called "Dragon Eggs," the Ping-Pong-size spheres contain volatile chemicals that create small, fiery blasts, KDVR-TV reports. The ensuing blaze eats the available fuel between it and the main wildfire, and when the two meet, they go out.
“It takes about 20 to 30 seconds for this reaction to take place and that’s about the time it takes for the ball to hit the ground and settle into place and start this kind of ignition that we have,” Kelly Boyd, Unaweep wildland fire unit leader and drone operator, told KDVR.
Dragon Eggs are being used to contain the Grizzly Creek Fire, which started Aug. 10 and has burned more than 32,000 acres just east of Glenwood Springs. More than 550 firefighters have been battling the wildfire, and it's 75 percent contained.
“We will drop roughly about 200 at the high ridgelines, and then we will sit and see what it does," Boyd told KDVR.
