The Upper Pine River Fire Protection District is touting its use of a drone this week to monitor a wildfire in such a way that it saved time and reduced danger to firefighters.
The lightning-caused wildfire was reported at 8:02 p.m. Thursday on Ludwig Mountain, south of the Forest Lakes subdivision. Two Upper Pine brush trucks responded, but lightning and darkness from the late hour required the crews to disengage from the fire, according to a news release issued Friday by the fire district.
Heavy rain fell overnight. At 7 a.m. Friday, instead of dispatching crews to the burn area, the fire district used a drone with infrared technology to scan the area for remaining hot spots.
“This is the most cost-effective way to assess the risk,” said Chief Bruce Evans. “In less than 30 minutes, we were able to scan the entire area of Ludwig Mountain for active fire.”
Had it not been for the drone, Upper Pine would have had to send crews up the mountain or request the multi-mission aircraft from the state to monitor the situation, he said.
The Mavic 2 drone has a fire search application that scans a grid and looks for hot spots. The drone is operated by FAA-certified drone operators within the district.
Still, weather permitting, the Forest Service planned to fly an air attack Friday afternoon to monitor the area.
bmandile@durangoherald.com
