HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Forest Service is deploying new technology to help them fight fires.
Drones are being used by firefighters to control prescribed wildfires. Thanks to new legislation passed, the Florida Forest Service is now permitted to use American-made drones. Each drone is equipped with a series of chemical-infused balls that — upon deployment — fill with anti-freeze. The mixture causes a chemical reaction inside the ball, starting a fire. It’s changing the way firefighters are conducting prescribed burns.
“It’s just going to make it safer for our folks not being entrapped,” said Keith Mousel, Withlacoochee Center Manager for the Florida Forest Service. “Not having to deal with the heat, fatigue, and the dangers that go with walking through unburnt woods.”
Prior to 2019, Mousel said all prescribed burns by the forest service were either done by hand or by helicopter. The drones will be used by firefighters across seven different districts, ranging from the Alabama state line down to Fort Myers.
But plenty of training is required beforehand. It’s a skill that is changing the way firefighters go about their daily routine.
For at a field just outside the Withlacoochee State Forest, the future of the Florida Forest Service is taking flight.
“We’re just starting to scratch the surface as far as the applications that we’ll have for these platforms,” says Michael Weston, Forestry Resource Administrator with the Florida Forest Service. “We’re actually at the Withlacoochee State Forest training about 30 of our personnel on how to operate the drone safely and to go through all the procedures as far as setup, to maintenance, to cleaning, and everything in between flight logging. It’s been very exciting.”
Michael Weston has been with the forest service for 20 years, a career that is now going from the ground to the air. All thanks to these new drones.
“This journey started probably a little over a year ago,” said Weston. “We started hearing that we’d be getting drones and we’d be able to use them for different missions we have, from prescribed burning to actually looking at timber inventory and disease outbreaks. Then, about nine months ago, we started hearing who was selected for this class and I was excited to be selected for it.”
As a forestry resource administrator, he qualified for the program, which has been no small task as it requires plenty of training.
“We’ll do more studying and then we actually have to take our part 107 test to be able to be a remote pilot in command,” Weston said. “And then we’ll do some additional practice before we do some sign off.”
Each drone is outfitted with a camera and a box containing chemicals. Designed to help them do a prescribed burn from a safe distance.
“There’s that big box on it and that actually holds plastic spheres that we inject with glycol,” said Weston. “About 30 seconds later they start a fire and what that does is it helps us with our prescribed burns to actually burn without the use of aircraft. So that’s really going to open up our burn program to burn on more days.” And give them a new perspective on forest preservation.
“This will, again, really expand on what we’re able to do on a day-by-day,” he said. “It’s almost like being able to strap wings on your back and be able to fly around the forest.”
Taking firefighters and the forest service to new heights.
Those with the Florida Forest Service say they plan to continue offering this class, training future forestry firefighters to pilot drones.