Officials in Washington State battling a series of wildfires are making a clear, unmistakable, and what should be – after this many years of repeated blazes ravishing the globe – an unnecessary appeal to drone operators: Keep your craft the eff away from burn zones and the firefighters seeking to control them.
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Canadian next-generation terrestrial and aerial vehicle specialist InDro Robotics has joined the effort to battle wildfires that have been punishing the nation for weeks with data-gathering drone deployments to assist firefighters in British Columbia.
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A group of Washington state startup executives is pooling the experience and knowledge of overlapping backgrounds to turn their Data Blanket creation into an effective and powerful tool for the firefighters increasingly called out to battle raging blazes blackening multiplying areas of the planet.
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Canada’s diversified drone hardware and services company Volatus Aerospace wasted little time in putting its recently acquired firefighting credentials to good use by assisting efforts in Alberta this month to battle wildfires that have punished the province.
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Montana has adopted a new law adding state penalties for drone pilots whose flights interfere with firefighting efforts on top of federal fines – a legal combination that could feasibly cost convicted violators $40,000.
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As if the changing climate isn’t concern enough, apparently at least some of the world’s wildfires are set intentionally. Police in Italy arrested a man after spotting him torch the Italian countryside. Watch as a drone catches a firebug.
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In response to a court order issued by Federal Probation Judge William Alsup, utility company PG&E had denied any knowledge of drone operations near the origin of the Dixie Fire – the second-largest recorded wildfire in California’s history. However, the court is now questioning PG&E’s claims, indicating that the company might know something about the drone after all.
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Dixie Fire, which first ignited around July 13, is now considered the second-largest recorded wildfire in California’s history. It has so far burned close to 490,000 acres and is only 21% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, aka Cal Fire. This has prompted a judge to order an investigation into a drone that appeared over the blaze on the day of ignition, forcing Cal Fire to end air operations prematurely.
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A Swiss research group has developed a drone-carried sensor that can detect the water content of terrain below, and are offering it as a cheaper and more accurate measurement supplement to existing technology like satellite imagery. Its creators say the device can optimize a variety of terrain management decisions in a world where drought and fires are becoming a major, recurring problem.
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