Since the "Thomas" fire has been threatening our local Santa Barbara for quite some time, and this fire has been discussed at length in the news, I was wondering whether any mathematics has been applied to firefighting, and whether there could be an "optimal" strategy to fight such fires? We have input data: Weather: * time of day * temperature * humidity * wind speed & direction * these data at some precision in 3D space & time * historical & forecasted values of these data Fuel load: * type and amount (to estimate ability to sustain & propagate fire) * historical data -- e.g., when last burned Objective function: * location & value of assets to be preserved; * details of value degradation vs. temperature & time We have these actuators: * fire suppression (water, retardant) over 2D surface * fire accentuation (ignition, napalm, etc.) * these mechanisms applied in time & space at some precision We need a mathematical model: * how fire burns out and/or propagates, based upon local fuel load, air temp, air humidity, wind velocity, presence of retardants, presence of accelerants, etc. ---- The idea is to figure out when & where to optimally supply fire retardants and fire accentuation to minimize the damage incorporated into the objective function. If modern AI can produce winning strategies for *Go*, then why wouldn't such an AI technology be capable of solving this fire problem?