The Grand Rapids Fire Department is hoping to launch an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program, but they will need the City Commission’s approval first. The Grand Rapids Fire Department first approached the City Commission in January about the possibility of purchasing an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, better known as a drone to assist in 1st response efforts.
Tonight at the City Commissioners meeting, the Fire Department will ask the City Commission to set a date for a public hearing on the issue. Grand Rapids Fire Chief John Lehman says the drone would be a big help to the department but not necessarily in fighting every day fires.
“It would be more used to assist with post fire on very large structures, perhaps structures that we are not safe to necessarily go in and mill around in an old warehouse. But where we could use fly a drone around, take photos and map things out.”
In addition, Chief Lehman says the drone could assess damage caused by tornados or flooding, help firefighters respond to a call that contains hazardous waste materials, and assisting in search and rescue efforts.
“The camera on these UAV’s have Flir technology that allows us to pick up heat signatures. And so where we right now search the river banks, and search for somebody that might be lost in the river we do that with using lights, just manpower and at night it’s extremely difficult to cover that area. This would give us much better capabilities, and not necessarily put people in harm’s way when searching for a victim like that.” Prior to the city commission meeting this evening, the fire department has filed a certificate of authorization with the Federal Aviation Administration, received approval from the American Civil Liberties Union while providing flight training to 10 firefighters who could man the drone at any given time.
