Homestead National Historical Park regularly does prescribed burns on its restored tall grass prairie to reduce fuel load and woody thatch, maintain prairie-wide native plant species, as well as to control invasive species.

Homestead National Historical Park in 2016 partnered with researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who developed an unmanned aircraft system with an aerial ignition device to start this fire. The unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has the ability to ignite and monitor fires in a safe manner, potentially adding a new tool for firefighters.

The prescribed burn of 26 acres took place on Friday, April 22, 2016.

Here is a link to a video that shows more on the UAS:

http://mediahub.unl.edu/media/3986