Fighting Fire in Real-Time
After a fire has already begun, emergency services have a given containment window and limited time to stop the burn before it gets out of hand. Drone technology can be instrumental in this process by discovering “hot spots” and allocating water to the worst areas. The LAFD used this technique during the Skirball fire, and the 360-degree assessment captured by drones enabled them to adjust their attack strategy.
DroneDeploy’s Live Map, for example, turns drones into a scouting tool for fire departments. When smoke is too thick to permit helicopter flight, drones can survey the landscape and deliver valuable information to decision-makers on the ground. With 24% of firefighting deaths related to plane and helicopter crashes, this significantly removes the risk involved in these operations, captures the same imagery, and can save millions of dollars in losses.
The advantageous viewpoint that drone flight provides is also beneficial for monitoring the crew on-scene and locating survivors. Especially during night flights, infrared technology like DroneDeploy’s Thermal Live Map can illuminate the area and spot people and structures at-risk while simultaneously providing weather data to pilots on the ground. This information, such as wind direction and speed, can be used to evaluate progress and determine where the fire will spread next.