New South Wales rolls out firefighting drone technology

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews from 25 regional areas across New South Wales are being trained to use state-of-the-art drone technology to assist in firefighting operations and other emergencies.

Equipped with the latest technology including thermal imaging and laser technology, the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) will help firefighters keep communities safe.

NSW Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery Steph Cooke said the RPAS are being rolled out as part of a $5.4 million investment by the NSW Government.

“These drones are being deployed to 25 regional areas, giving FRNSW crews an eye in the sky to help them better fight fires and keep our communities safe,” Ms Cooke said.

“The drones are connected to FRNSW’s wireless and satellite communication networks, allowing images to be viewed and analysed in real time at the scene of an emergency which helps firefighters make quicker decisions and act faster.”

The RPAS are equipped with thermal imaging cameras and laser technology that can detect variable heat temperatures, identify people or animals under threat in a fire zone and measure the size of an area impacted by fire.

According to FRNSW Bushfire and Aviation Unit Commander Scott Donohoe, the drones can be activated at an emergency scene within minutes.

“The drones are stored in our vehicles and ready for immediate use, providing FRNSW commanders with aerial images that can help determine the safest and most effective places to position fire trucks and crews,” said Superintendent Donohoe.

“We are planning to have around 200 firefighters trained to pilot the drones. The available training over several tiers includes sessions on night flying, situational awareness, ‘live’ streaming, rapid mapping, aerial incendiary use and 3D panoramic skills.”

Around 200 firefighters will be trained to pilot the drones through a range of sessions on night flying, situational awareness, live streaming, rapid mapping, aerial incendiary use and 3D panoramic skills.

The drones can be used to assess bush fire risk, assist in hazard reduction operations and find people missing in dense bushland, and have already been deployed to the Northern Rivers region to assess flood-damaged infrastructure, identify hazardous materials and find leftover debris.

The Northern Rivers deployment saw two teams of drone operators from FRNSW’s Bushfire and Aviation Unit in the Northern Rivers to identify and map the location of dangerous debris. It was the first time that the drones, purchased with funding in response to the Black Summer bush fires, had been used in the flood recovery effort.

This follows the purchase in 2016 of two new drones are part of a multimillion-dollar technology rollout to FRNSW that also included two custom-built mobile command centres and the installation of more than 180 mobile data terminals in fire trucks across NSW.

These drones were intended to provide firefighters with real-time images of areas too dangerous to access and enable rapid damage assessments.