California fire officials using drone to help fight monster Yosemite blaze

Fire crews battling a record-breaking blaze near Yosemite National Park added a California National Guard Predator drone to their arsenal Wednesday to give them real-time views of the flames that have scorched over 300 square miles.
The MQ-1 unmanned aircraft being remotely piloted hundreds of miles away quickly alerted fire bosses to a new flare-up they otherwise wouldn't have immediately seen.

link to full story

So this seems pretty innocent but it's still a predator drone on US soil. They have made it clear the drone will only be flying over the fire to give firefighters on the ground real time information. I believe this to be what they say it is, the only problem I see is with these things in the air doing things like this people are goin to get used to them and stop asking questions, and that's when they will start using them for nefarious purposes.

I live about forty five minutes away from Yosemite. There is a small airport in mammoth, Ca and the town I live in. I will keep my specs on. Thanks for posting this!

If a mod could fix the title that would be great, Fox news... oi vey.

reply to post by denybedoomed


They said it is operating out of Victorville airport and being controlled by national guard I guess stationed at March AFB, but I don't doubt that they can use any airport and it would seem logical to use the closest one for a refuel. These things can stay up 22 hours at a time so refuel once a day or so.

reply to post by TheCrimsonGhost


Ah, I see.

Thought this was interesting:

"My prediction is it will burn until we see rain," said Hugh Safford, a regional ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service. Read more: www.foxnews.com...

Good luck with that, it's been soo freaking dry up here.

reply to post by denybedoomed


I didn't catch that, Dang that's crazy, a fire that can't be put out until nature decides to do so... I guess that's how it was before we started putting them out but it's still scary. I have heard before that forests actually need fires and the fire helps the forest stay healthy.

reply to post by TheCrimsonGhost


I agree, I think fires in ca would be less frequent if they were left to burn. All the dead and dry would be gone, then the regrowth would be green and lush from the nutrient rich soil. But with all the structures and homes, fire prevention has had to get better.

Not to mention that the Owens valley would be a hell of a lot greener if it weren't for LA DWP sucking us dry.

I had the immense pleasure of visiting Yosemite in '05.

Pristine - personified - if that means anything.
Something unexpected to my Wife. lol.

Here in Oz. Bushfires are part of the natural cycle of death and re-growth.

I should imagine that these - ancient majestic redwoods; are used to this naturally recurrent devastation.

The wildlife though ...

I hope all souls are safe. Wishing for rain !

Originally posted by TheCrimsonGhost

So this seems pretty innocent but it's still a predator drone on US soil. They have made it clear the drone will only be flying over the fire to give firefighters on the ground real time information. I believe this to be what they say it is, the only problem I see is with these things in the air doing things like this people are goin to get used to them and stop asking questions, and that's when they will start using them for nefarious purposes.

edit on 8/29/2013 by TheCrimsonGhost because: never again will i use fox news as a source after this mess

There's already been predator drones flying around the Canada US border for years now. Probably the Mexican border too.

Helping to fight fires seems like a good use, cheaper than helicopters

reply to post by snowspirit


Are they spraying fire retardant or water ?

Now that's a good alternative to some " dubious " government spending ! ??

reply to post by TheCrimsonGhost


OMG! Drones in American airspace? How can this be? The end of the world must be near! Are we sure they didn't use missiles from armed drones to start these fires? Is the whole thing just a distraction from something bigger? This must be bad, where are all of the anti-drone nut jobs?

Actually, this is a great use of the drones and I'm sure there are a lot of other good uses for them here at home as well. Now if they could just make some drones capable of carrying fire retardant through the thick smoke and into the source of the fire, that would be great, thanks.

Originally posted by Timely
I had the immense pleasure of visiting Yosemite in '05.

Pristine - personified - if that means anything.
Something unexpected to my Wife. lol.

Here in Oz. Bushfires are part of the natural cycle of death and re-growth.

I should imagine that these - ancient majestic redwoods; are used to this naturally recurrent devastation.

The wildlife though ...

I hope all souls are safe. Wishing for rain !

Only you can prevent forest fires.. I doubt this was natural at all.. There a lot of whacko arsonist who like to set a little spark and see the big flames..

reply to post by starfoxxx


Dry heat - a build up of natural vapours, then - lightning ...

Kapow !

( especially if there has been little to no effort towards fire reduction protocol )

Ed: not dissin' your arsonist call ( what is that type of sick ... !?? ) !

Originally posted by Flatfish
reply to post by TheCrimsonGhost

 

OMG! Drones in American airspace? How can this be? The end of the world must be near! Are we sure they didn't use missiles from armed drones to start these fires? Is the whole thing just a distraction from something bigger? This must be bad, where are all of the anti-drone nut jobs?

Actually, this is a great use of the drones and I'm sure there are a lot of other good uses for them here at home as well. Now if they could just make some drones capable of carrying fire retardant through the thick smoke and into the source of the fire, that would be great, thanks.

No one I can see has said anything anti-drone, awareness is still paramount. It is when we become complacent to what our government is doing that they change things up and disguise it as what we're used to. This is a great use of the technology, unfortunately they are the size of a small plane and could not carry enough retardant or water to make a difference. Although flying jumbo water dropping helicopters and planes over fires I don't think is anymore dangerous than normal flight so there is probably not really a need for radio controlling the job. The benefit of the drone in this case seems to be it's ability to stay in the air for 22 hours at a time and image through smoke.

Imagine the space shuttle's tiles placed on a bellicose fire retardant drone !??

Originally posted by TheCrimsonGhost

No one I can see has said anything anti-drone, awareness is still paramount. It is when we become complacent to what our government is doing that they change things up and disguise it as what we're used to.

I wasn't pointing a finger at you, I was just wondering where the ATS anti-drone crowd was, they're usually quite boisterous. IMO, there hasn't been any anti-drone rhetoric because this demonstrates how drones over american airspace can actually serve a useful purpose. That's not to say that there isn't plenty of it, (anti drone rhetoric) here on ATS.

Furthermore, I never meant to say or imply that we should become complacent. Only that we should look for the good things that we can do with advancements in technology, instead of being preoccupied with accusing the government of always doing the worst possible thing with it.

Originally posted by TheCrimsonGhost
This is a great use of the technology, unfortunately they are the size of a small plane and could not carry enough retardant or water to make a difference. Although flying jumbo water dropping helicopters and planes over fires I don't think is anymore dangerous than normal flight so there is probably not really a need for radio controlling the job. The benefit of the drone in this case seems to be it's ability to stay in the air for 22 hours at a time and image through smoke.

Drones, or "unmanned aircraft" are getting bigger and more capable every day and it's just a matter of time before we learn to utilize them in fighting forrest fires as well because despite what you may think, fighting fires with aircraft is indeed, much more dangerous than normal flight. Especially when multiple aircraft are operating in a limited area with thick smoke limiting their visibility.

www.bbc.com...

“We believe that unmanned aircraft are the next big transformation in the aviation industry,” says Doug Davis, director of the unmanned aircraft programme at New Mexico State University.

www.usnews.com...

Missy Cummings, a former fighter pilot with the United State Air Force and currently a researcher at MIT studying unmanned aerial vehicles, says she realizes pilots are an endangered species.

"The heyday of the commercial pilot is over," she says. "The heyday of the fighter pilot is over. We're going to replace everything with a [drone]."

I guess I can see how smoke could cause a hazard. I just assumed they probably flew over the smoke. You know what happens when we assume...

Originally posted by Timely
reply to post by snowspirit

 

Are they spraying fire retardant or water ?

Now that's a good alternative to some " dubious " government spending ! ??

edit on 29-8-2013 by Timely because: Helicopters can gather intel.

No they're just finding out the direction the fire is going and seeing from the air what the people on the ground can't see as well without danger. Instead of a manned helicopter.

I'm as anti drone as anyone - but the OP sounded like they thought that drones on/above US land was a new thing.
It's not. They've been monitoring the borders for years, on both sides. Predator drones on Cdn and US soil.

reply to post by snowspirit


Drones being used in CA to help fight fires is a new thing.