Pilots trained in the aerial ignition academy are a valuable resource that helps our agency live up to its commitment to firefighter safety.
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After that, they must complete a series of courses from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group before being eligible for nomination to the aerial ignition academy. They have earned certification in a series of building blocks courses, including their FAA remote pilot license, interagency training remote pilot courses and incident operations. Pilots eligible to attend this course are already experienced drone pilots. This year marked the first aerial ignition academy. In addition, with the use of infrared sensors, drones can fly through highly smoky situations or night flights providing reconnaissance and other aerial needed operations where helicopters could not. Trincado added, “The UAS can patrol and scout lines that otherwise would have to been flown by a helicopter or you would have to send a module in to recon the area in advance.” Sending a drone out can supplement the need to use helicopter crews from flying low and slow to drop payloads, which can put crews at risk. “From a risk leader perspective, it really allows us to fly in many different conditions,” explained Robert Trincado, director, National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center. It provides an alternative that allows us to manage employee risk and exposure with technologies and new tools. That’s why this drone aerial ignition program is so important. This has traditionally been conducted from helicopters, but those flights can be risky, leading to crashes and fatalities.
The agency has performed aerial ignition for decades. By clearing out dried grass, brush and low vegetation that can act as fuel or very flammable kindling in more controlled conditions, land managers can safely reduce wildfire risks. Prescribed fires are controlled burns used by land managers and firefighters to mitigate the possibility of larger wildfires from occurring. Prescribed fires are an example of a good fire,” said Justin Baxter, National UAS operations specialist. Based on the needs of land managers, drone pilots load spheres into the payload and fly patterns on the lands to perform prescribed fire missions under the direction of on-the-ground personnel. That injection happens before they are dropped.
Known as “dragon eggs,” they are filled with a chemical called potassium permanganate that causes them to ignite about 10 seconds after being injected with glycol. These spheres are chemical-filled plastic balls about the size of paintballs. Instructors provide an introduction to drone flight procedures, payload orientation, maintenance, cleaning, concepts of firing, burn patterns and more.Īerial ignition is the practice of dropping spheres from a payload. This four-day training course is split into both academic and hands-on training exercises.
To train future operators, the agency has created the UAS Aerial Ignition Academy. The real value is one of safety: the ability to send these aircraft into arduous terrain and low visibility situations in place of Forest Service employees. In the case of aerial ignition, they can be used for reconnaissance and prescribed fires. “We’re talking about a new tool that we can introduce in the conversation on risk management,” said Dirk Giles, national UAS program manager.ĭrones play a large role in the agency’s aviation program. That’s why we’re using unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, to reduce risk for Forest Service firefighters, land managers and aviation assets. WASHINGTON, DC-The Forest Service is committed to its values and places highest importance on employee safety.
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