Small Town Takes Big Leap With Firefighting Drone

A small, Wisconsin town is getting a technological leg up on its metro counterparts after adding a drone to its firefighting arsenal.

The Footville (Wis.) Volunteer Fire Department recently received an aerial Christmas donation in the form of a Yuneec Q500 Plus quadcopter last month and officials are optimistic the UAV will help save lives across the 800-population town.

After the department registered the drone with the FAA, Captain Kris Ommodt told Walworth County Today that all 28 volunteer firefighters will be trained to pilot the drone.

“We’ve been training with it and taking two to three flights a week around the station getting people used to flying it and knowing how to use the coordinates on the remote and the camera to the best of its ability,” Ommodt said in an interview.

The FVFD hopes to use the drone to spot wildfires before they spread, as well as use it to help locate missing persons, such as dementia patients who may wander off.

With its 12MP/1080P HD camera, as well as a CGO2-GB 3 axis precision gimbal, the Q500 offers a potentially ideal solution for a team of amateur pilots on a budget – although the model is limited to about 30 minutes of flight time.

“It may not be used once in a year or it could be used twice in a week. Whatever the situation, it’s there if needed,” Ommodt said, adding that his department would share the drone with other local agencies as needed. He also hopes to use it in public education displays and fire-prevention classes.

Footville may be small, but the town is joining a growing number of public-safety agencies that are finding drones to be an effective tool in the life-saving business. Fire departments in particular see drone deployment has a vital tool in locating, analyzing and manning a given fire call. As referenced in a recent DRONELIFE article: “Drones are to firefighters what bomb defusal robots are to SWAT teams: they are a way to take a quick look at an extremely dangerous situation without immediately throwing a person into harm’s way.” Last year, in fact, firefighters used a UAV to save two rafters stranded on a rock in the middle of a raging river.

Ommodt underlines the importance of utilizing new technologies like UAS in the public-safety sector: “As stuff changes with fire and EMS, we always need to be looking ahead — this is just one of those things that fell in our lap, and we’re very excited to use it wherever we’re needed or can be helpful.”