That would definitely reduce/eliminate the fire risk but I think the challenge with that approach is that you would effectively just be cutting the weed off at

That would definitely reduce/eliminate the fire risk but I think the challenge with that approach is that you would effectively just be cutting the weed off at the surface. With the CO2 laser they are basically cooking it to death. The long wavelength likely penetrates much further into the root as well, increasing the likelihood that its permanent. That said they could moderate the dwell time of the laser to avoid having things burst into flame if/where that is an issue. I do wonder if they could use microwave instead.