Can Drones Help Firefighters Contain Wildfires?

2014 is proving to be a historic year for wildfire activity in California and the Pacific Northwest. The National Fire Inter-Agency Center, in a report they update daily, put the combined number of fire-ravaged acres in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, to date, at over half-million. Due to the prolonged drought in California, the number of wildfires in that state alone is 123% of the state's average - and we're only halfway into August. With local firefighters working round the clock and, out-of-state teams journeying cross country to join them, one has to wonder if drones might be able to play an assisting role.

Adding Drones to the Mix

Last year, during the Rim Fire in California that destroyed 257,314 acres in Yosemite National Park and the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains, the National Guard launched a Predator Drone to aid firefighters by using infrared sensors to detect hot spots along the fire's perimeters or in isolated spots.

The technology packed into the drone proved to be effective since it was able to use infra-red cameras to see through the smoke and dust to detect a spot-fire with the potential to spread to populated areas. Since it had technology to pick up the precise longitude and latitude it was able to pinpoint the coordinates so planes could be dispatched to drop water and fire-retardant chemicals over the site to keep it from spreading
The drone also made passes from one side of the fire to the other, using I-R to see through the smoke all the while detecting and keeping clear of two helicopters whose crew members were keeping an eye on the blaze from opposite sides.

The Twin Falls Times-News reports that the Oregon Forestry Department is planning to equip a small

remote control helicopter drone for the purpose of flying into smoky canyons where conditions would be hazardous to crews piloting helicopters.  It could then share the data its infra-red camera footage and GPS systems gathered with fire crews on the ground. If it proves effective, they plan to equip firefighters with such small drones as regular equipment by 2016.




With an estimated cost of $5,000 and  a gas tank that can keep it flying for 30 hours, the heli-drone would be a bargain compared to the $17m dollar Predator Drone that can stay aloft for 20 hours.






But First Some Questions
While drones are definitely an untapped resource in fighting the increasing numbers of wildfires, their use raises several doubts in firefighters minds. First and foremost is the question of connectivity and second is also a question of ..........

Connectivity......

For a fire fighter, viewing video and interpreting data supplied by a drone's cameras and sensors is not the same as actually flying over the fire, hearing it, tasting it, seeing it  and smelling it. This type of virtual intelligence is better than  no intelligence at all but it's not enriched by the intuition  fire experts flying over the scene of the fire and connected to it by their senses depend on to predict what is apt to do.

and.......Connectivity
How will command centers on the ground connect with the drone pilot receiving the drone's data first hand.

If they are located within an urban interface, connectivity to his iPad will be good, but out in the mountains and canyons where fires usually range? Lots of luck, Charlie.

The biggest concern of all is safety. Will the drones remain at their restricted altitudes or will they stray into the airspace of planes engaged in air attacks. As one official told the Times-News, "It's bad enough to get hit by a bird. Think if you hit a 40-lb piece of metal...."

Kintronics is eagerly awaiting the day when technology for using IP camera systems in drones is developed but at present only analog cameras are used in drones, with video encoders  being used to enable network connectivity. Meanwhile Kintronics has supplied PTZ cameras to The National Center for Landscape Fire Management, which is overseen and administered by the University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation to be used in their remote sensing program, as well as to the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
Whatever your IP camera needs, call 914-944-3425  to speak to a sales engineer, or fill out an information request form

A New Role for IP camera systems - Operations Managers

In this business era when companies are focusing on getting the best return on their investment, a sizable number are looking towards extending their use of IP camera surveillance systems beyond security and into overseeing business operations.
According to a recent issue of Security Watch Info, a survey in which IT and video surveillance professionals  were asked what their business plans were for video surveillance revealed that 68% of respondents plan to use their cameras for improving operations while 32% planned to restrict their usage to security.

Many retail businesses with more than one outlet, perhaps because they are already familiar with how IP cameras systems and video management software deliver remote real-time multi-screen viewing of several locations, have already made the move.

Managers feel that using the cameras will give improve their ability to:

• manage multiple locations
• monitor everyday business activities
• track employees over the course of a day
• keep a watchful eye on inventory and sensitive customer and business data.

They are particularly fond of VMS ability to record and store video and easily access it for future viewing and plant to use it for

•  ensuring  employees are following safety protocol,
•  gaining insight into employee-customer interaction 
•  keeping an eye on their assets.
• providing evidence in disability and accident incident investigations.

 Video analytics scores big too, as small business owners have come to appreciate how event-triggered notifications allow them to stay in touch with their home base from anywhere in the world via smartphones, tablets, or other Internet-connected devices, and plan to help them manage from afar

Lest the respondents appear to be too homogeneous, there were a few outlier replies. One of the most interesting came from a manager who oversees 1,600 stores.  He has 32 surveillance cameras at each location. His biggest problem is neither managing employees, keeping track of inventory, nor preventing theft. It's evaluating the value of  items brought in for sale.
Since it's impossible to have an expert at every location, he's looking into using video to enable experts to do remote evaluations.

We hope this spurs you on to think about how IP camera systems can help you  manage your business operations. Give Kintronics a call at 914-944-3425 or fill out an information request form. Our sales engineers would love to help you transform your ideas into day-to-day reality.