Tim Compston, Features Editor at SecurityNewsDesk and SecurityMiddleEast.com, finds out why first responders are taking to the skies with drones and even jetpacks to enhance their firefighting capabilities.

“One of the major fire-related stories of recent months was the wild fire which engulfed large swathes of the city of Fort McMurray and surrounding areas in northeast Alberta, Canada, with an estimated 220,000 hectares impacted and tens of thousands of people evacuated. Earlier this month, Transport Canada granted Ventus Geospatial Inc. approval to provide operational UAS (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) assistance to the affected fire regions. This move allowed the Aeryon SkyRanger to fly over the forest fire area which is otherwise restricted airspace. Thanks to high resolution geo-located imagery and thermal infrared sensors the team at Ventus was able to utilise the SkyRanger to coordinate with and assess the firefighting efforts.

Speaking to Andrea Sangster, Senior Marketing Manager, from Canadian sUAS (small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) specialist Aeryon Labs about why operating drones such as SkyRanger makes sense in situations similar to Fort McMurray, she replies: “During emergencies an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle [UAS] can often be deployed when a manned aircraft simply can’t because of smoke coverage or the location of the fire.” She goes on to say that drones, which can fly closer to the ground than traditional aircraft, offer a cost effective way of gathering aerial images and data to provide enhanced situational awareness regarding the source of the fire and associated hotspots; the best points of entry to buildings and wher stranded people might be.. Another advantage which Sangster reckons drones offer, over and above, other aerial vehicles is that a small UAS can be transported to the scene in a vehicle and, typically, deployed by only one person.”