The prescribed burn shown in the video took place on April 21, 2018 on the North Campus of the University of Michigan. The burns are done to promote the ecology of native species; you can learn more here "
Controlled Burns"
Robots can be protected against flames and they do not suffer from smoke inhalation. While Cassie Blue has no arms to carry you out, coming generations of robots will be able to assist you.
Cassie Blue is walking with control laws developed at Michigan in this publication: Da, X., Harib, O., Hartley, R., Griffin, B., & Grizzle, J. W. (2016). From 2D design of underactuated bipedal gaits to 3D implementation: Walking with speed tracking. IEEE Access, 4, 3469-3478.
Cassie was built by Agility Robotics. The robot's purchase was enabled by funding from NSF Inspire Grant ECCS-1343720 and Toyota Research Institute (TRI). The work on the control law was funded by NSF Grant NRI-1525006.