H.R. 6094 — Fire Innovation Unit Act

This section establishes a deployment and demonstration pilot program for new and innovative wildfire prevention, detection, communication, response, and mitigation technologies, to be carried out jointly by the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior not later than one year after enactment. In implementing the program, the Secretaries must (1) consult the National Wildfire Coordinating Group; (2) identify key technology priority areas (e.g., hazardous fuels reduction, wildfire modeling, remote sensing, autonomous suppression systems); (3) connect selected private entities, nonprofits, or institutions of higher education with covered agencies—including Federal land management agencies (as defined in the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act), the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, and others—for real-time testing; (4) define success criteria focused on effectiveness, scalability, and cost-efficiency; and (5) coordinate scaled deployment via public-private partnerships and multiagency procurement. The section further directs outreach to solicit applications addressing priority areas; allows covered agencies to deem existing partnerships successful; and requires reports to specified congressional committees 180 days after program establishment and annually thereafter, covering deployed technologies, costs, outreach, and adoption recommendations.