By Savannah Eller
The Gazette
COLORADO SPRINGS Colo. — Move over, Lassie: The nonhuman rescuer of the future may be a drone operated by a Colorado Springs firefighter.
The CSFD is in the process of refining its drone program, which started in 2023 and is one of the few in the nation to staff an operator on call 24/7. Its primary mission is to add a unique set of eyes to rescue and fire operations in the city.
“It’s been a real game changer for us, because if you think about it, forever we’ve operated from the ground and usually from one side,” said CSFD Special Operations Capt. J.J. Halsey.
With the Fire Department’s $11,000 DJI Matrice 30T, which is about the size of a tire hubcap with four arms for independent rotor blades, Halsey has a number of gadgets at his disposal.
He can speak to a person on the ground through a speaker, pin a location in GPS, shine a spotlight, and even, in theory, deliver emergency supplies under 5 pounds.
The last capability Halsey wants to have perfected soon for the next wilderness rescue.
“We hope to be able to deliver like portable handy talkies, like a space blanket, maybe some water, medication,” he said.
The rest have been real-world tested. Halsey said drones have been used in multiple rescues since the program began, often to find a missing or injured hiker before rescue crews can reach them.
“We’ve been really successful in finding people quicker,” he said.
The drones are also increasingly relied upon in diverse fire scenarios to provide views impossible for the human eye. Standing outside Station 8 in southeast Colorado Springs with a drone high overhead, Halsey was able to zoom into a blurry but unmistakable view of the Pikes Peak summit house more than 20 miles away.
“I could tell you somebody was up there, but maybe not the clothes they were wearing,” said Halsey.
Aside from being a neat party trick, the capability of detailed drone footage could help firefighters coordinate during a wildfire or large structure fire by sending the livestream to the devices of crews on the ground in real time.
The Special Operations drones are also infrared capable, which shows heat where there may not be obvious signs of a fire.
Halsey said the Fire Department deploys drones when a electrical storm is suspected of starting a fire in wilderness areas. A lightning-caused fire can be hard to spot otherwise.
“The strikes hit, but you don’t usually see anything for hours, up to days later,” he said.
The infrared also comes in handy when searching for hot spots in areas already burned by a grass fire. As firefighters set up a barrier with water hoses between burned and unburned areas, the drone overhead can check for gaps.
It can also detect spot fires caused by drifting embers away from a main fire.
“The drones allow us to basically patrol that to make sure we’re not missing anything,” he said.
The drones do have limitations. Heavy-duty batteries last under an hour. Onboard software will send the flyer back to the operator in high winds, while heavy snow and rain are nonstarters. The CSFD currently has Federal Aviation Administration permission to fly drones only within sight of the pilot, though the department is in the process of applying for long distance flights.
The equipment is expensive, especially factoring in the Starlink satellite internet connector acquired last year to prevent disconnection between drones and controllers in areas without Wi-Fi. The CSPD provides and staffs the Special Operations truck, but money for drones has come from outside donators like the Fire Foundation of Colorado Springs.
The long-term efficacy of the drone program is still too soon to estimate, but Halsey said that it was crucial to saving someone’s life in more than five incidents so far. Special Operations unit personnel, who also serve as after-hours public information officers, incident safety officers, and other roles in addition to drone piloting, responded to 475 calls last year.
Halsey said a drone is a useful tool in a multitude of situations.
“I think we make a pretty big difference on just about everything that we’re flying on,” he said.
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