Taiwan is increasingly deploying firefighting robots to protect human firefighters in hazardous situations. A recent chemical plant fire in Chiayi County destroyed one such robot, underscoring their role in dangerous operations.
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00:00Here lie the charred remains of a firefighting robot,
00:03sent in to help put out a fire at a chemical plant last month in Jiayi in central Taiwan.
00:22The use of these robots has been on the rise in Taiwan,
00:26including at another Jiayi factory fire earlier this month.
00:29The bots are able to enter structures and spray water
00:32in areas too dangerous for human firefighters to go.
00:35They're fitted with a number of cameras and sensors,
00:38which send information to their controllers through laptops and tablets.
01:00This all as there have been calls for
01:02greater protections for first responders like firefighters.
01:05An incident in the city of Xinju last year,
01:08where two firefighters lost their lives in the line of duty,
01:11saw greater public attention on the issue
01:13and demands for reforms from those in the profession.
01:16While the robots have had some success,
01:18they still have some limitations as well.
01:20There are currently 141 of the robots being used in fire departments across
01:47the country. The National Fire Agency says
01:49the Jiayi fires show the robots' utility in protecting firefighters,
01:54and will continue to integrate them into their operations.
01:57We will continue to integrate them into their operations.
02:19each robot costs between $50,000 and $200,000. While the robots may be expensive, fire departments
02:27would argue there's no price too high to ensure their human firefighters make it home.