Unmanned Aircraft Systems use on wildfires Miller Fire Wildfire

Miller Fire Wildfire News – 7/10/2019
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) The National Interagency Fire Center is building an interagency fire Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) program comprised of agency personnel and private contractors. The use of UAS is one way fire managers are incorporating new technology to support fireline decisions. This allows important information to be gathered quickly without putting firefighters in aircraft. UAS are broke down into 4 types based on their capabilities.A type 1 UAS is the most capable and type 4 is the least complex but the most portable.

Agency personnel generally operate type 3 or type 4 UAS because they can be stored in a backpack and launched from the fireline. These smaller UAS operate at low altitudes, generally below 400 feet, have a battery life less than an hour, and must be operated within visual line of sight. If a fireline supervisor needs to get a better vantage point while on the line, they can launch these smaller UAS from their location and get the information back in real time. This also gives field personnel the opportunity to capture pictures of terrain and vegetation when scouting line. This information can be sent back to the incident command post for planning purposes.

Type 1and type 2 UAS are more complex systems that require more personnel and designated areas for launching. Flight crews for these larger systems can range from 3 to 9 or more crewmembers. Each of these personnel have important job responsibilities such as flying the aircraft, coordinating with ground and air resources, and interpreting data. These larger systems can fly to heights over 10,000 feet and operate for multiple hours. They can fly beyond visual line of sight and carry multiple cameras for mapping. On larger wildfires the Incident Management Team can utilize these larger “drones” for quicker turnaround times on infrared flights to identify heat along the fire perimeter.

The airspace above a wildland fire can be a complex environment with multiple fixed and rotor wing aircraft operating at different altitudes. Fire managers put a temporary flight restriction (TFR) over wildfires to maintain control of the aircraft within that space. In order to allow a UAS to climb through a complex airspace like this, fire managers use an area identified as a Launch Recovery Zone (LRZ). An LRZ is an area within the TFR that can be closed to other aircraft while the UAS ascends and descends. When an LRZ is “hot” no other aircraft can enter the space, once the UAS reaches its target altitude the LRZ is “cold” and other aircraft can fly through it again.

After landing, UAS data specialists support the operation by pulling the GPS data, photos and videos from the system to be interpreted and packaged for mapping. The data specialist can take pictures from the flight and georeference them on a map. This allows firefighters to get maps with updated aerial imagery to get an idea of burn severity or structures threatened. These larger drones also come with infrared (IR) cameras that can feed live IR information to the resources on the ground. This information allows firefighters to identify heat near the fireline so it can be suppressed before it escapes.

UAS operated by fire personnel are carefully coordinated with air and ground resources, it is important that the public remembers not to fly their own drones within the TFR of a wildfire. Individuals who are determined to have interfered with suppression efforts may be subject to civil penalties of up to $20,000 and potential criminal prosecution. Drone intrusions endanger the lives of firefighters, halt air operations, and impact the protection of values at risk.
If you fly, we can’t.

From: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6417/49578/