Arizona Republic - Drones Could Keep Crews Informed, Safe in Wildfires

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By Madeleine Winer

If the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots could have been located during the Yarnell Hill Fire, their lives might have been spared.

The state didn't have technology to track them in the deadly June 2013 central Arizona wildfire. But that could change with the use of unmanned aircraft.

"We learned that firefighters signaled for help but we could not detect the crew's location," said Jeff Whitney, director of the Arizona State Forestry Division. "If the crew had resource-tracking technology and real-time weather updates, it would have helped."

Whitney gathered with other state and local fire officials Wednesday to discuss a bill that would implement best practices for drone use during wildfires. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who introduced the legislation in June, said she wanted to hear officials' concerns and ideas for implementing the technology.

Arizona Republican Reps. Paul Gosar, Martha McSally and Matt Salmon have co-sponsored the bill. Sinema said the bill is expected to be tacked on to the 2015 FAA Modernization and Reform Act up for renewal next legislative session.

Firefighters could use drones to track the wildfire's direction and intensity as well as the movements of first responders battling the blaze. Drones could also serve as a communication device among first responders and agencies that respond to a fire.

"It gives the incident commander a great deal of intelligence on what's going on that typically doesn't happen unless we put a manned aircraft over the fire or ... use ground forces to get that information -- and that potentially puts them in danger," said David Staub, president of the Arizona Fire Chiefs Association.

The bill, the Protecting Firefighters and Promoting Innovation Act, establishes a group led by officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of the Interior to study drone use in fighting wildfires. The group also includes representatives from local firefighting departments, national environmental agencies and the National Guard.

The group would produce a report detailing how drones could help suppress fires and provide real-time updates on shifting winds and weather patterns. It would also report on drone costs and current technology used to fight wildfires.

Sinema said her visit to the site of the Yarnell Hill Fire served as her inspiration to back the bill.

"Firefighters put everything on the line to protect us," she said. "I thought to myself "What can be done to make sure our first responders are safe and out of harm's way as much as possible?' "

Whitney said he's been in talks with state lawmakers to see what technology is available for firefighters to use in Arizona. He said one problem he foresees is not having unmanned aircraft available on short notice.

Fire officials agreed that the drones would have to be available and deployed at the start a fire to perform up to their potential throughout an operation.

"We have to have this at the front end of an incident," said Randy Karrer, fire chief of the Golder Ranch Fire District. "It would set the stage (for how the operation would go)."

Another problem fire officials have encountered is unauthorized drones in the same airspace as helicopters and planes fighting a wildfire.

"We feel the FAA needs to be involved with this airspace issue," said Mary Dalton, president of the Arizona Fire District Association. "We want to support a study to look at that. The Forest Service has had what they consider 13 different wildfires in which drones have interfered with aircrafts."

In addition to airing their concerns, fire officials were pleased Sinema included in the bill that local fire officials would be involved in the study.

"This is a great tool we'll be able to use," said Todd Harms, assistant fire chief with the Phoenix Fire Department. "The ability for locals to have a seat at the table will allow us to follow up with this."

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