SOUTHERN OREGON – Fire season brings new challenges every summer. This summer, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) is using drones to assist with many aspects of wildfire suppression and detection.

NewsWatch 12 spoke with ODF State Aviation Coordinator, Sara Prout. Prout said air resources are important every summer and that drones help expand the department’s aviation capabilities.

“It’s all one big picture,” Prout said. “Manned and unmanned aircraft work together, just at different levels.”

For years, ODF has been using planes and helicopters to detect, observe and fight fires. Drones can operate similarly, with greater mobility and access to fires.

Drones can provide valuable information at every stage of a fire. This includes the time after the fire is fully contained and crews have completed their work.

“Firefighters can have really accurate data when they are cleaning up,” Prout said. “We can get some really amazing hot spot identification that firefighters can use in their efforts to make this process more efficient.”

Prout said an example of the drone’s benefits is detecting smaller fires, such as fires in rural areas. Some fires start higher in the trees and produce less visible smoke, making them harder to detect.

“If it is unsafe for firefighters to observe what is happening on the scene, they may fly and use (unmanned aircraft systems) in those circumstances to keep themselves safe,” Prout said. “(They) are able to get the information they need about the incident.”

Prout said thunderstorms often spark small fires in rural areas. Flying a drone over an area affected by a thunderstorm may be more effective than using a larger aircraft or looking for signs of a fire from the ground.

ODF is also considering the use of drones for controlled burns. Cal Fire already uses drones that drop plastic balls that can catch fire.

“As an agency, we haven’t addressed aerial ignitions yet, but we’re working toward it,” Prout said. “The agency is considering purchasing the ignis system, a system that dispenses plastic balls.”

These balls can be dropped by drones into harder-to-reach areas. This allows firefighters to burn dead and dying vegetation in critical areas they otherwise could not work on.

Luke Doten is an anchor/reporter at NewsWatch 12. You can contact Luke at [email protected].