Oakland firefighters have been battling a massive fire overnight at a construction site where townhomes are being built. The fire was reported at 2 a.m. this morning. About 90 firefighters were on the scene as the massive fire ripped through the townhouse construction site located at West Grant and Filbert Street in Oakland, Calif. The Alameda County sheriff’s deputies brought a DJI Inspire 1 in to get footage of the fire. The drone equipped with a thermal camera shows exactly where the hotspots are.

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Multiple wildfires within the B.C. Interior have sprung up over the past week after lightning struck the forest. The fires were aided by a mixture of hot and dry weather. According to BC Wildfire Service; air operations were suspended and firefighting aircraft were diverted on Monday after the sighting of a drone above the Wilson Creek fire, located 19km east of Nakusp.

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DJI introduces as of today, their global authorization team that can unlock geofencing restrictions around the world, around the clock within 30 minutes. Geofencing restrictions are hardcoded into DJI’s products to prevent, as the FAA likes to call them, clueless, careless and criminal drone pilots from flying their unmanned aircraft into sensitive areas, such as the airspace around airports (SFO for instance), prisons, and other military or federal facilities. However, in times of emergencies, first responders and law enforcement officials may want to fly their drones into such areas, which is why DJI has now introduced a special team that can authorize access for specific drones to fly into areas that are typically off-limits. This feature is only available for professional drone operators and not for casual drone pilots.

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A journalist was detained on Sunday as he was flying his drone dangerously close to a helicopter during the large-scale rescue operation of the Thai football team and their coach from the Tham Luang cave system in Thailand.

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A drone flying above Saddleworth Moor in North West England captured a devastating fire that caused more than 50 families to evacuate their homes. The destruction currently spans over 7 square miles (18km) with the active blaze only stretching 2.5 miles (4km). It was originally under control as of Monday but reignited on Thursday due to the high winds. expand full story

Yesterday, the Fire Department of Wayne Township in Indianapolis, Indiana flew their DJI Matrice 210 with dual camera setup for the first time ever in heavy rain. On Twitter, they reported that: “She performed like a champ!”. Since March of this year, DJI Enterprise has increased their efforts to break into the commercial drone market and specifically the first responders. As we know, drones can help to save lives and it is good to see more first responders starting to use them.

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