Taralga Rural Fire Service Captain John Sullivan who battled the Green Wattle Creek fire in the Black Summer bushfires has recommended drones are deployed within every RFS unit.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The local brigade has used a drone for over four years to capture images of the landscape during a fire, which would usually take hours to gather.
"We definitely think these need to be part of every brigade," Mr Sullivan said.
Read more:
He said drones were capable of things like thermal imaging, search and rescue, night-flying, and replace the deployment of aerial assets.
"The countryside around here is quite hilly and we can't always see exactly where the fire is. But with drone spotting, rather than driving for two hours to get around the other side or wait for air support... we can do a lot of these things ourselves, cheaply and quickly."
The brigade has recently applied for a larger drone with more capabilities.
"It would assist with finding hot spots not visible to the naked eye, or even finding lost people or locating stray dogs attacking stock.
"This is the way forward for all emergency services," he said.
Earlier this month, Mr Sullivan, and members of the Taralga RFS, completed drone flying lessons to upgrade their qualifications and drone pilot accreditation.
David Game, a former Jetstar pilot, trained the firefighters after he was grounded due to the pandemic.
The Upper Lachlan Shire Council contributed $10,000 from the Bushfire Community Resilience and Economic Fund to support the training.
"We'll definitely put this training into good use both with fires or supporting other emergency services," he said.
Mr Sullivan will further his training and progress to chief remote pilot. Later, he will panel a discussion with the RFS on the capabilities of drones in the fire ground.
We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
