MARTINEZ — Inspired by a colleague’s idea — an ultimately unsuccessful concept of using sound or puffs of air to control fire – Dr. Waleed S. Haddad considered another tactic: using wind and water to control the temperature and intensity of a blaze.
Over nights in his kitchen, the physicist came to design and invent what he calls a “mobile burn chamber,” which starts a fire, controls the flames and extinguishes them, all in one pass. Now, wildland and fire experts hope the device may play a role in changing the landscape of wildfire prevention.
The machine, called the RX2, was on display Tuesday morning, burning low grass to create a fire buffer around a PG&E substation near Franklin Canyon Road in Martinez.
“I can’t say I ever imagined something coming along like this,” said Cal Fire Deputy Chief John McCarthy, a firefighter and forester since 1994.
McCarthy was among firefighters, utility …