Forest fires are incidents that have always happened due to natural phenomena. However, nowadays, the main cause of forest fires is humans. Improving the prevention, extinguishing, and recovery of damaged areas is a purpose in which we must progress.
Drones against fire
Drones help to prevent forest fires and monitor them during extinguishing. Besides, they could even cooperate in the recovery of the affected area once the fire is extinguished. In addition, they are of great help in the search for people, essential in this type of situation.
More and more fire departments are using new technologies such as drones to improve mission results. UAVs have an important role in this sector. They can make a big difference in the resolution of the situation. Thus, the technologies they incorporate can help among other things to:
- Perimeter surveillance
- 24-hour control
- Search and rescue operations of people and animals
- Transport of light material to inaccessible places
- Reforestation
Drones for firefighting
In general terms, drone technology can help in different stages of operations in fire departments.
Surveillance
In the surveillance stage, UAVs are very helpful in identifying the premature signs of a possible fire and giving the alert. They are also essential to monitor the area and to have located the resources that are close to the fire. This makes it easier to use them more quickly in an emergency case. The NM& TS150 Tether Station, developed by Embention, permits to power the UAV directly from an on-ground power source, providing unlimited flight time. This allows unlimited surveillance of the desired zone.
Extinguishing
During the fire extinguishing stage, drones allow having important information that helps to extinguish them. Some examples can be the ambient temperature or wind direction. They can also capture aerial images of the place in real-time, so the operation can be directed more accurately.
In Embention, we have developed Veronte Gimbal and Veronte Gimbal Pro. They are video devices with visible and thermal cameras that allow detecting and seeing forest fires in real-time.
Recovery
In the recovery stage, UAVs analyze and determine which areas are suitable for replanting. There are drones that integrate seed dispensers, speeding up reforestation work and reaching difficult access areas. In general, the management of human and material resources are favored with the use of drones.
Conclusion
Unmanned aerial vehicles have become a very important tool in special forces operations. They not only are useful for extinguishing forest fires. They are of great help in carrying out many of the tasks related to fire prevention, extinguishing, and recovery. From Embention, we are constantly developing new products that allow solving or preventing problems, as in this case are forest fires.
