I have done some posts about my concerns about drone (unmanned aircraft system or UAS) incursions over wildfires, see for example this November 4, 2019 post and this April 17, 2020 post. Simply, because of the risk that drones can pose if they collide with a tanker or helicopter and airplanes, air operations over a wildfire will be shut down if there is a drone incursion. Drone incursions near airports are also a concern. Ok, I want drones to be operated safely and legally in compliance with FAA and other regulations. Having stated that, I am here to say that I have nothing against drones. While I am not an expert on unmanned aircraft system and have only seen a couple of drone operations from a distance, I know enough to know that in the hands of a trained drone pilot drones can do a lot of good.
Edited on December 23rd to add: the concern that I expressed in the above paragraph applies to situations when members of the general public fly unauthorized drones or UAS over wildfires. The same concern applies to when members of the general public fly unauthorized drones or UAS near airports.
I have seen drone footage over areas burned in wildfires offering a folk like me a good view of the devastation of a wildfire with the cost of a helicopter or airplane surveillance flight. I believe but am not certain that some National Weather Service offices or their partners have used drone footage in storm damage reports. Then there are drone uses for land surveying.
I have also read of drone uses in connection with wildland firefighting.I have various accounts in online media sites about how drones can assist wildland firefighters, I will take a look at my files and bookmarks for these articles and hope to make another post soon. In the meantime, I do know that Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has written extensively about unmanned aircraft systems. For example, in September 2020 he wrote about a quad-rotor UAS operated by Bridger Aerospace last summer and fall, mapping fires among other uses. Just this month Bill wrote two articles, on December 6th Bill wrote about a company called DroneSeeding that is licensed by the FAA to fly UAS in post-fire seeding operations. Just last week (December 16th) he wrote about work that Parallel Flight Technology is doing on heavy lift UAS capable of carrying 100 pounds for up to two hours. This UAS technology could be a big boon to wildland firefighters by transporting some equipment to the back country in addition to post fire animal rescue.
As I said, I have seen other reports of how unmanned aircraft systems may help wildland firefighters as well as aid in post-fire rehabilitation. Over the coming months, I will try to pay more attention to such articles that I come across and report back here as appropriate.
2 comments:
I completely see where you are coming from, and I think the main scare that you may have is when the public gets involved in using drones. In my experience the drones are invaluable because of their operations during a heavy daytime inversion or nighttime operations. Both circumstances are when aircraft can’t fly, but when we as fire fighters can finally get a leg up on Mother Nature!! When drones fly they always clear the airway with HELCO or Air Attack anyways, therefore leading to the possibility of a collision very unlikely. I believe it took will soon take even more handle on fires and rightfully so because I would rather lose a drone in poor flight conditions and do that hat paperwork rather than a multi million dollar aircraft and a life. Thanks.
WFM Assistant, thanks so very much for you comment. Perhaps I was unclear in my article as I did not say that I am concerned about the general public flying unauthorized drones over wildfires. Thank-you for point that out. I have heard of incidents where unauthorized drone operations over a wildfire, most likely from the public, have shut air operations down. As I tried to say in my article, I am aware of the good that drones can do in wildfire operations, and of course, figured that such drone operations are cleared with HELOCO and Air Attack. As you are a firefighter and I am not, I am grateful to you for your words. I look forward to trying to learn more about the uses of drones over wildfires that you mention in your comment. And what I learn, I will share here. I am all for anything that will give wildland firefighters an edge and save lives! Stay safe.
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