FARMINGTON—The Farmington Fire Department has a unique eye in the sky. Something that can fly into hazardous situations and give an overall look at what’s happening on the ground. The department recently purchased drones that have helped make their job easier while protecting first responders. 

The drones are small, medium and large depending on what they’re used for. “The newest drone is the Avata 2,” said Farmington Fire Department Part Time Deputy Fire Marshall/Chief sUAS Pilot, James Weston. “You get a first person view so you can see whatever it is seeing.”

It’s small and nimble, he said. “We can use it in a HAZMAT situation. It can fly indoors if we have an active shooter. It can go places we don’t want to go in.”

The Mavic 2 is a medium size thermal engine camera, said Weston. “We can use it to find lost kids, see where a fire is at and see firefighters to keep track of them at all times. It can look inside windows to get help faster. It can take pictures of a roof to help in the investigation.”

The Matrice 30 is a larger drone, he said. “We use it for anything up in the canyon. If there’s an ATV rollover we can find it. We’ve been involved in quite a bit of incidents.”

Pilots have to get a license in order to fly a drone, said Weston. “They have to get all of their hours. We have seven pilots.”

Weston said when I came into the program there was only one pilot. “I offered to teach a class. Anybody can take the class.” 

They have to pass the bucket test, he said. “There are buckets with numbers on them. They rotate through them. There’s a search and rescue bucket and they have to orbit a small, medium and large building. They have to practice in case we have to fly into Lagoon.”

Pilots have to learn about different drones, how they work and what they can and can’t do, said Weston. “They have to learn on each aircraft and become certified. We follow all FAA rules to the letter and with the city’s insurance we’ve exceeded all of the expectations on training.”

Once they’ve signed off they can fly a mission, he said. “All seven of our guys have signed off.”

When a drone flies there is one pilot and one observer, Weston said. “The observer is watching the aircraft at all times. They watch out for other drones. We strictly adhere to the ‘sterile cockpit,’ like on a plane they shut the cabin door. No one can talk to the pilot except the incident commander and observer.”

It’s just like any other tool, he said. “Incident command tells us what to do, like go to this side, etc. We’ll do it.”

It can stay in the air on average for 20 to 40 minutes, said Weston. “A spare battery is always charged.”

If there’s a wildland fire, Weston said they can use multiple drones if they need to. “The incident command says he wants a picture and he calls me. I set up and get close to the fire. I can see what it sees and call the incident command.”

Weston said they used a drone when a truck hit a power pole. “The line was still energized inside the truck. We flew out into the truck and did a sweep to make sure no one was in there. We put the drone in danger rather than people.”