As it looks to modernize its operations, the Los Angeles Fire Department is turning to a number of new technologies including expanding its fleet of drones for a slew of new deployments. One of the largest fire departments in the U.S. next to New York and Chicago, the LAFD has a budget of roughly $691 million, employs over 3,500, and responded to 492,717 calls in 2018. The department already has a fleet of 11 drones to compliment its fleet of 258 fire engines, ambulances, and helicopters. However, Battalion Chief Richard Fields, the head of the department’s Unmanned Aerial Systems program would like to see that number increase significantly.
The technology demands of the fire department extend beyond the drone itself. There are a lot of technologies that allows us to make the drone more versatile… the most valuable tool isn’t the drone; it’s the sensor. So far, the most useful application has been using infrared technologies to balance what’s visible and combine it with the heat signatures the sensors pick up. Training to become a drone pilot for the LAFD is particularly intense, Fields says. The typical pilot will get up to eighty hours of training. For now, the entire LAFD fleet is composed of DJI drones, something which has given military and civilian officials pause in the past few years.
Credits:
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/20/the-los-angeles-fire-department-wants-more-drones/
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