Traditional wildland firefighting methods pose serious risks to ground and aerial crews. As climate change creates more vulnerabilities for larger and more destructive wildfires, the need for safer wildfire mitigation and management operations have become a priority. While we’ve seen how drones play a crucial role in advancing efforts in the public safety and emergency response sector, there are always new and different ways drones can support these efforts.
These innovations were showcased at the North American Aerial Firefighting Conference, where attendees gained valuable insights on the many ways that drones play a critical role in firefighting. The dedicated UAS portion of the conference was kicked off with a presentation by Mark Bathrick, highlighting that we are in the “2nd Golden Age of Flight” and what that means for aerial firefighting.
Bathrick speaks from a place of experience, having served as the Director of the Office of Aviation Services (OAS) in the Department of the Interior (DOI) for 16 years until retirement. He has outlined the four key competencies it takes to succeed in drones at industry events and fully detailed what it means to start a drone program with zero acquisition and maintenance costs.
Read more on this story at Commercial UAV News
