An early bushfire detection system is currently seeking funding to be deployed before Australia’s next bushfire season thanks to UNSW Digital Grid Futures Institute, a research group headed by Professor Joe Dong. The new system will utilize drones equipped with an array of sensors to monitor changes that could mean a bushfire is nearing.

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On the 23rd of January, reports came in of a C-130 Hercules water tanker disappearing from radar while supporting firefighters on the ground in the Australian bushfires. Fire crews on the ground later shared information of a plane going down, resulting in a fireball.

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Earlier this month, a bushfire in the Perth suburb of Baldivis, Australia, didn’t allow firefighters to take advantage of aerial support for some time due to a rogue drone being spotted close to the fire. The aerial support was forced to hold off while the drone finally made its way back to the ground.

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The bushfire seen tearing through the Perth suburb of Forrestdale earlier this week is now under control, but not without frightening locals and threatening Forrestdale Primary School. On the eastern side of Australia, bushfires have been burning for the last few weeks.

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This year’s fire season in California has started out with massive fires in Los Angeles and near San Francisco. PG&E’s aging transmission lines form a huge risk as failing equipment can potentially start wildfires as was the case last year. The Camp Fire in 2018 was started by a powerline that came down from a transmission tower after one of the hooks that hold up the lines broke. An article in the Wall Street Journal investigates the status of the PG&E towers and lines in California and uses drone footage to show the aging equipment.

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