Wildland fires are extremely complex and present some of the most dangerous and devastating threats to lives and property in the United States (Wildland Fires, 2016 & Nix, 2016). It is estimated that 72,000 communities are at risk of being in danger from them (Wildland Fires, 2016). In 2015 alone, there were approximately 68,000 wildland fires that burned over 10 million acres and destroyed 4,636 structures (Wildland Fires, 2016). Wildland fires occur due to a "combination of drought, warmer temperatures, high winds and an excess of dried vegetation in forests and grasslands" (Wildland Fires, 2016).
How Wildland Fires Are Fought Today and The Risks
wildland fires. More non-risky operations deal with the manned aircraft conducting fire surveillance during daylight hours (Than, 2013). As the military uses UASs for dull, dirty and dangerous missions, there is no wonder why such a platform could be used to assist with or take on a leading role for a dangerous mission such as wildland firefighting (Hinkley, Zajkowski, Ambrosia, & Schoenung, 2007).
UAS Application for Wildfire Fighting Operation
The use of drones in other applications has sparked an interest in using it for fire service, specifically wildland firefighting. However, there is a mixed reaction to UASs near wildland fires especially when they are not a part of the operation. While trying to document fires, certain hobbyists and photographers have created unnecessary risks (Templeton, 2015). The potential for mid-air collisions in this environment is very high since both UASs and manned aircraft are operating at lower altitudes (Templeton, 2015). Temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) are issued by the FAA and serve to prohibit UASs from operating in these areas; however, these TFRs go unnoticed and are routinely violated (Templeton, 2015). Drone use over the California Lake Fire in 2015 caused an entire fleet of fire retardant aircraft to be grounded by Cal Fire (Templeton, 2015). In 2015 alone, there were eight other separate incidents involving UAS operating inside TFRs created for wildfires (Templeton, 2015). Enforcing the TFR for wildland fire fighting operations is a serious challenge and represents how UAS, if used incorrectly, can be extremely dangerous to other fire fighting aircraft. So what if UASs are used to "provide the right information to the right people at the right time" (Hinkley, Zajkowski, Ambrosia, & Schoenung, 2007).
There are certain benefits to using a UAS for wildland firefighting efforts, even different sizes of UAS with different capabilities. These capabilities rival current manned methods or present new ways of executing wildland fire fighting operations. The ability to provide a 24/7 situational awareness picture is invaluable to incident commanders and their efforts to prepare maps and contingency plans to combat wildland fires (Werner, 2015). The Forest Service is interested in employing UAS for wildfire mapping missions that are currently underserved or where manned aircraft are not practical due to mission duration or missions where personnel could be put at high risk (Hinkley, Zajkowski, Ambrosia, & Schoenung, 2007). In addition, a UAS could rescue wildland fighters in danger, note hotspots for quicker action, observe fires at night (which currently is not being done), assess the effect of the wind on fire line changes, and deliver fire retardant or water where needed to extinguish the wildland fire (Than, 2013 & Werner, 2015). These are just a handful of benefits that UAS can provide to fire services in general but are exclusive to wildland firefighting.
There have been several uses of medium sized fixed wing UASs that have not been a part of any demonstration but has confirmed that UAS technology is ready to support wildland firefighting operations with fire surveillance. From 2006 to 2009, a NASA MQ-9 "Ikhana" successfully employed its multispectral camera to send maps of the fire area to incident commanders on the ground (Werner, 2015). In 2013, the California National Guard MQ-1B Predator provided electro-optical and infrared full motion video for 20 hours at an altitude of 23,000 feet (Werner, 2015). It demonstrated the ability to pinpoint the hottest areas, identified already scored vegetation and spotted nearby brush that threatened to provide fuel for a wildland fire (Werner, 2015). The main advantage was based on the fact that these UASs remained well above manned air tanker flights altitudes/TFR airspace and still provided detailed imagery or full motion video. This separation allowed both to do their jobs uninterrupted by each other. The MQ-1B and MQ-9 "Ikhana" represented two successful medium sized UAS examples that could operate day or night for fire surveillance.
There are no legal or ethical challenges to date with wildland firefighting as the concept is still relatively new and governmental agencies are the primary agent for this type of operation, coupled with the broadcast of its operations to more than one person, makes it less susceptible to miss use.
References
FAA releases preliminary cause of S-2T crash. (2014). Fire Aviation: News and Opinion. Retrieved from http://fireaviation.com/2014/10/09/faa-releases-preliminary-cause-of-s-2t-crash/
Hinkley, E.A., Zajkowski, T., Ambrosia, V., & Schoenung, S. (2007) Small UAS Demonstration for Wildfire Surveillance
Kershaw, J., Jones, J., & Kleiman, E. (2015). Interior, U.S. Forest Service Explore Use of Unmanned Aircraft to Improve Firefighter Safety. U.S. Department of Interior: Press Releases. Retrieved from https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-us-forest-service-explore-use-unmanned-aircraft-improve-firefighter-safety
Products: KMAX. n.d. Lockheed Martin. Retrieved from http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/kmax.html
Nix, S. (2016). Wildland Firefighting in Forests. About Education. Retrieved from http://forestry.about.com/od/forestfire/a/firefighting.htm
Roberts, M.R. (2014). 5 Drone technologies for firefighting. Fire Rescue: Fire Products: Communications. Retrieved from http://www.firerescue1.com/fire-products/communications/articles/1867819-5-drone-technologies-for-firefighting/
ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. n.d. Boeing: Technical Specifciations. Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/history/products/scaneagle-unmanned-aerial-vehicle.page
Templeton, A. (2015). Drones Increasingly Force Firefighting Aircraft to Ground. Retrieved from http://www.opb.org/news/article/private-drones-increasingly-force-firefighting-aircraft-to-the-ground/
Than, K. (2013). New Firefighting Technologies: Drones, Super Shelters. National Geographic. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/07/130702-yarnell-hill-wildfire-firefighting-technology-science/
Werner, C.L. (2015). Using Drones In the Fire Service. Firehouse: Technology and Communications. Retrieved from http://www.firehouse.com/article/12041104/drones-in-the-fire-service
Werner, D. (2015). Fire Drones. Aerospace America Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.aerospaceamerica.org/Documents/Aerospace%20America%20PDFs%202015/June2015/Feature_FireDrones_AA_June2015-3.pdf
Wildland Fires. (2016). National Fire Protection Association. Retrieved from http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/for-consumers/outdoors/wildland-fires
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