Drones are playing an increasingly important role in fighting wildfires

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drone wildland fire firefighter
A contracted UAS crew with Precision Integrated Programs / Overwatch Aero — Tyler Kock, Daniel Rodriguez, and Cliff Savage — on the Lighting Complex of fires. US Forest Service photo by Andrew Avitt. FVR-90, N170WA.

By Andrew Avitt, US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region

Drones – also called UAS or unmanned aerial systems – are playing an increasingly important role in fighting wildfires by supporting operations with aerial ignition and gathering intelligence for firefighters. The greatest benefit drones provide is they can take to the sky when manned aircraft are grounded for pilot safety.

Take, for example the FVR-90, a fixed-wing drone with a 14-foot wingspan capable of traveling at speeds up to 46 mph with a flight time of 8 hours. They are sent airborne just at dusk when other manned flights are grounded. The sky is theirs, and the overhead view they have of the fire is detailed and in real time.

“The way we use UAS now is very much a supplement,” said Justin Baxter, the Forest Service National UAS Operations Specialist. “There are certain times that it’s just not safe for us to utilize manned helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft, like nighttime operations or in thick smoke or high winds.”

drone wildland fire firefighter
USFS photo by Andrew Avitt.

The drones that Baxter and his team fly are equipped with cameras that are not your normal cameras. They have multiple types of sensors, including infrared, that allow the team to see through smoke and, at night, see heat signatures, or thermal-based imaging. This allows the identification of areas where fire is still active and new areas where flames have advanced, such as spot fires.

Spot fires occur when embers from the main fire are thrown into the air and pushed by wind until they fall to the ground, starting a new fire. They are notoriously hard to identify because they are small at first and visibility is diminished by smoke. They may occur in hard-to-reach places difficult for firefighters to patrol, like on steep slopes or down in drainages.

“Drones are changing that labor-intensive process to identify these spot fires, especially when an operational area can span hundreds of thousands of acres,” Baxter said. With drones, fire managers and incident management teams can scan large areas quickly and easily identify spot fires that may be a mile from the main fire. That enables firefighters to get in and suppress those new starts before they grow.

“To give you an idea, this drone can detect a 2-inch by 2-inch spot fire from a half-mile away,” said Baxter as he gestured to the imposing drone just to his left minutes before takeoff to fly around the perimeter of the Six Rivers Lightning Complex Fire near Willow Creek, California.

Baxter said that much has changed since 2015 when the agency began the UAS program.  With each passing year, incident management teams have increasingly incorporated the capability into their strategies.

The communication between the UAS crew and firefighters on the ground flows in both directions. The drone may be flying over and see heat in an area and transmit the information to a hotshot crew. Conversely, the hotshot crew can ask the UAS crew for assistance in exploring an area that they suspect might be active, and then view a feed from the drone of the area in question.

John Crotty served as the air operations branch director with California Interagency Incident Management Team 15 that responded to the Lightning Complex Fire on the Six Rivers National Forest.

drone wildland fire firefighter
A drone equipped for aerial ignition. USFS photo by Mike Yearwood.

Aerial intelligence isn’t new in wildland firefighting, said Crotty referring to the recently retired Cobra helicopter and its Firewatch capabilities. But the implications of unmanned flight— that opens up new possibilities.

“With the Cobra aircraft, we needed a pilot and an interpreter up there to run the camera and talk to the folks on the ground. So, we expose two individuals plus a flight [to risk],” said Crotty, “But what we really needed was the visibility to fly.”

Thick smoke on the fires like the Lightning Complex can ground manned aircraft. That’s where drones come into play and the images it captures can inform firefighters working across a large area.

“The other day I heard from one of the hotshot crews out there. They were in heavy smoke conditions, at night. With the low visibility they couldn’t see if they had a spot fire across the line,” Crotty said. “This tool being up in the air, looking down at that exact area, the UAS crew was able to pinpoint the spot and provide precise coordinates to the firefighters who were able to check it out and put it out. That kind of information we would never have without these unmanned aircraft and that capability. Drones are the future of aviation for not only fire but for aviation in general. It’s a win-win for the agencies to operate under an umbrella of this type of aircraft that can provide precise and timely info to firefighters and incident management teams. And most importantly, we can do it safely.”

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13 thoughts on “Drones are playing an increasingly important role in fighting wildfires”

  1. Quite an interesting read, Andrew! Drones are useful for monitoring the fire ground operations to assess the damage, document the fire’s progress, and assist in the search for missing people. Drones may also carry various sensors that help firefighters locate hotspots and even trapped people within a structure. Furthermore, drone data collected during and after a fire might be utilized to produce training materials.

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  2. I can remember the day when chain saws were thought not only a luxury but a bother and general pain in the neck. They were always breaking down, the chain needed sharpening which was seen as non-productive because the sawyer was sitting down instead of cutting brush, and jezz they always needed gas and oil. Brush hooks were much less complicated. A few years later the saws became more reliable, we figured out the gas and oil issue, sawyers were more experienced and passed their knowledge on the others and hot shots crews went from 30 crewmembers down to 20 because they didn’t need 10 people running hooks. Technology needs time to develop and be accepted.

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  3. They’re “cool” and can occasionally provide some good intel but I’ve never heard anyone say “I wish we had more drones”. Ground firefighters DO often say, “I wish we had more dozers, shot crews and VLATS though!!!!!! The drone thing is fraught with people trying ro make a buck but rarely are the grunts ever sighing with relief when they show up. More and more they’re being used by the softies at ICP to turn the 100 mile long screwdriver to the ground folks. I do not think they’re a bad thing but you’re never going to “intel” a fire out.

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    1. Probably would have been a gooder training idear when that ICP yurt was burned up by that arsonist last month

      Think of all that good trainin including night doing perimeter security

      Whodathunk that idear???

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    2. I guess you’ve never been stuck under an inversion layer for multiple day where helicopters can’t fly, and Air attack can’t see below. Drones are an awesome tool for boots on the ground to gain intel on chunks of ground that they have to drop into when other aircraft are grounded. Also the ability for technical burning in drainages, where you can’t get people is only going to get better. It’s not a case of drones vs hotshots or VLATs, it’s about having the right tools, like a UTV or a Felling Saw. Unfortunately for fed employees, this is another instance of the Federal crews pioneering this technology for fires over a decade ago and Cal-Fire and the contractors taking it over, because the Feds don’t support their employees development.

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      1. RT,
        I was a Shot for 22 years, inversions and me go way back, we’re bros. As far as relying on aircraft for intel, it’s a luxury but it absolutely doesn’t stop ops. I never rely on AC for a plan, that’s rule numero uno!
        I also worked a large portion of my career without UTV’s and we got a lot done without them…although they are nice but, again, they’re a luxury.

        As far as the UAS program going all contract and the FS being light years behind the curve, we can agree. BLM is a little more on top of it, but still. The people making $$$$$$ off of drones are primarily contractors and the FS people are left in the trenches taking grenades. Honestly though, if I went through a bunch of drone training with the FS I would be OUT.THE.DOOR. Why fly drones for a miserable gov agency as a GS5,7,9 when you can go off on your own and make a Kings Ransom, seriously! You could fly for utilities, fire, real estate, weddings, engineering firms, DOT etc etc. My bro in law got trained up on drones by his muni dept and left 3 years ago. Now he makes about $600k a year contracting his services out. You would be a fool to stay at the FS with valuable and in-demand training like that!!!!!!!!!!!!

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        1. I hear you, you would be a fool also to stay with the Feds when you can make $200,000 working on a PGE brush truck, or riding around in the back seat of an LA county fire engine..We’re kind of a foolish breed…Especially us that stay.. The fact of the matter is we still have a loyal work force that defies common sense. They will stick around (at least longer than they are now)if you treat them right and develop them. Development includes not only training but a respectable and obtainable career ladder. We’re currently failing in both regards. I have also worked for 20+years in fire without a UTV, but I’m sure thankful to get a ride when they pass by. We have both probably spent plenty of time socked in on a ridge for a week at a time, guessing what the fire is doing down below. Drones in those instances are like gold, much like having a felling saw with a 32” bar when you have 60+ inch snag on the line.

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      2. RT, you talking to me? I’ve been under inversion layers, many time as both a firefighter and pilot.

        Great for the wait and if uou have time to spare…go by air….IF you get the drift

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    3. 30 years ago, US Army/Air Force brass, as well as the Soldiers on the ground were saying the exact same thing about “Drones”. What can they possibly do for us? No Way, No How. At that time Young Aerospace Engineers like myself were full of ideas to make a soldiers job easier and safer. Fast Forward to now, and All the militaries of the U.S. use drones for everything from Intel gathering to taking out Tanks, and Terrorist leaders. A Drone that can carry water, and put it on a precise spot, are already here. A Drone can work long hours, never needs to take a lunch break, can see through smoke and clouds, and can fly in adverse weather conditions, day and night, better than a human. With no risk of loss to a human life. Gentlemen, get ready, all that is required right now, is an open mind, and what we engineers call “System Integration”. The small helicopter versions(8-14 ft rotor size) will be the best choice in my opinion for spot application(bucket drop). Picture 20-30 of these small helicopters working the start of a fire, hitting it one right after another, then returning to fill with water, fuel when necessary, then repeat as many times as necessary. These drones could be launched from a distant airport, then close supported by multiple flat bed tractor trailers fitted with landing pads, for a quicker turn around and shorter flight time. Cost for 30 helicopters: $150,000 each(fitted for Autonomous Operation), support equipment, and personnel $10million, software/ground maintenance per year $10million, Total cost: $24.5 million. Cost for a single (Cal Fire) Sikorsky S70 Firehawk: $26 million. Which helicopter? Dynali H3 would be a good start.

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      1. Keith, I hear you and I am not anti tech but I see a disturbing trend developing on fires. I see SO many support personnel getting in on the fire gig. Drone people, GIS People, Fire Behavior people etc etc. The fact is, fires will always be suppressed with hard manual labor from hard folks on the ground. Nobody wants to do that!! Of course! It’s grueling and really really hard. Everyone wants to “intel” the fire out. Support people make 4-5-6x what the ACTUAL firefighter on the ground does and the ground firefighter is hanging their life out their every single day. You could pit a 1000 drones over a fire and, guess what, containment will not increase an inch. I would argue that even a mere 20 years ago we achieved containment numbers faster because we had pipehitters on the line. We’ve come a long way with risk adaptation and I’m all for it but at some point, people have to put on their crusty yellow and punch that time card!

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  4. This can be a good asset to crews regarding night ops and heavy smoke. The sad thing is the GS 6 hotshots that stand up these programs get the extra work but no extra pay. UAS operator’s without fire experience need allot of input from the ground to make them reach a level were they create efficiency. 1 thing to remember it takes boots on the ground to put out fires not swarms of drones. At least not in fires outside the lab.

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  5. It fluctuates between vendor and agency owned. The obsession with retardant delivery probably lends itself to being cost prohibitive right now. Plenty of noctural ops going on already… The achillies heel if you will is the competition with say DOD… DOD simply pays more for commercial UAS. Personally, I feel a lot of our self imposed agency policy has inhibited the growth of the program to where it could be. Conituned use and advocacy will help the program flourish.

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  6. How many detection and surveillance drones are on the market today for wildfire managers to use? Still waiting for the “drone” that delivers retardant and flies after sunset.

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