Predator drone is an air vehicle or an aircraft that are either controlled by the pilots from the ground. They are also known as Unnamed Ariel Vehicles (UAVS) that have some preprogrammed mission. There are different types of drones but basically they are of two types one that are used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes and the other one are those that are armed with missiles and bombs. Use of drones has increased in recent years because of their specialty of staying for hours in critical situations which is quite different from the manned aircrafts.
Recently a wild fire broke out around Yosemite national park in California. The situation was quite adventurous and disastrous for the firemen when their crew went towards the landscape that was ruined into fire and expanded to about 301 square miles. However the cooler temperature and lighter wind provided some relief to the firemen struggling with the fire in the forest.
In this critical situation, predator Drone have helped them a lot by giving them views of any new flare ups across the remote and rugged landscape. California fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said that they are continuously in line to tackle the fire and at present it is not as active as previous days.
The National Guard Drone was deployed on Wednesday and was piloted hundred miles away and is constantly keeping its eyes on the new fire break ups thereby informing the firemen in the ground so that they can take instant action to put the fire off.
It is providing data directly to the incident commander which will help them in making quick decision regarding deploying the correct resources at correct place. Previously the fire officials were dependent on the helicopters which gradually became very expensive as they needed to be refilled in every two hours. While the Drone have mapped the past fire and have also sustained for long hours to broadcast the information to the ground fire persons in real time.
It has the capacity to be over the burn zone for more than 22 hours at a time and can determine the direction of the movement of fire. It also help to know the extent of containment and confirms about the new fire ignited with the help of flying embers.
The Drone is flown by the 163rd Wing of California National Guard at March Air Reserve Base in riverside. It is operating from Victorville Airport in southern California. Over the affected area, it flies over the unpopulated area on its 300 mile flight while outside the fire area it will be escorted by a manned aircraft.
The Rim Fire has destroyed 111 structures and 11 homes which has posed a threat to ancient giant sequoias. The fire break out has also threatened San Francisco’s water supply at the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. But the predator Drone is helping a lot in tackling the situation. It is really very adventurous for the firemen to work with the Drone in such a vast landscape.
