Technology is helping firefighters battle the Lake Fire, burning near Los Olivos.
“It’s an exciting time in fire history when it comes to using the technology we have to map fires, and fire services in general,” said Santa Barbara County Fire Rescue Captain Scott Safechuck.
U.S. Forest Service officials say this is a good way to gauge the status of the fires.
Safechuck said mapping the fires is important.
“We use drones, rotorcraft like helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and GPS to walk around the fire scene. There are a number of ways we can use GPS infrared technology to see where the hot spots are and then we send that information to our mapping department and they put it on a map for us to see,” Safechuck said.
Captain Safechuck said one of the new technologies is called FIRIS.
“This camera will fly in at 10,000 feet above the air operations that are currently happening and give us real-time feedback. They’re shooting video and it’s infrared so it can give you a lot of different contrasts. They can see exactly how big the fire is, what’s off the line and so on, and they’ll give you real-time feedback on your phone,” Safechuck said.
Matt Ahern of the U.S. Forest Service said drones equipped with thermal cameras can help relay information to firefighting officials and, because they are pilotless, pose no safety risk.
“Because there’s no human contact and it’s a drone, there’s a lot of opportunity to provide rapid information to ourselves and the public,” Ahern said.
“They fly looking for heat sources, detect them and notify ground crews, who then track the progress of the heat source’s movement and relay the digital information back to our maps,” Ahern said.
The planes will illuminate the areas most at risk and give firefighters a different perspective on where the fire is moving.
“They’re bringing in thermal imaging cameras to provide immediate rapid camera footage of whoever is causing the fire,” Ahern said.
As of Saturday night, the fire was 19% contained and had burned 37,872 acres.
