How drones are helping aid — and protect — firefighters

PRIEST LAKE, Idaho — The Idaho Panhandle National Forests (IPNF) were recently hit with two wildfires – the Bee Top Fire and the Consalus Fire. To help, the IPNF received aid in the form of interagency drones, or unmanned aircraft systems, designed to help wildfires.

“We communicate directly with the troops on the ground in potentially hazardous situations,” Joe Milligan, one of the drone’s pilots, said. “Identifying hotspots, assisting with containment efforts and identifying spot fires that have left our control lines.”

The program has been around for seven years, traveling across the country to help with the worst wildfires. They have a range of about two miles and can fly for up to 20 minutes, gathering safe routes for firefighters, identifying water resources and mapping the area using infrared technology.

“It’s an inter-agency program, we come from everywhere with forest service, park service, we have BLM pilots,” Milligan said. “So we collectively come together to perform these missions.”

In cases like the Bee Top Fire, crews had trouble accessing the front lines due to difficult terrain. The drone can help create a plan of attack.

“If we can get the drones in there to scout out areas of hazard, then they can communicate that with the ground forces so make sure it’s safe,” Waylon Meek, an Incident Commander in Training at the IPNF, says. “(There’s) inherent risk that we take everyday on the fire line. The drones don’t alleviate the risk, we still take risks everyday. But this deviates some of the risk.”

 

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