For more than two years, the Oak Ridge Fire Department has been working toward getting its certification to fly drones when responding to emergencies.
During training, Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said he's already seeing a huge difference in saving time and money.
"It can save thousands of dollars in equipment costs," Kerley said. "But the savings to risk to our firefighters is almost unmeasurable."
He said the most dramatic benefit can be seen when flying unmanned aerial systems, or drones, into hazmat situations, instead of having multiple crew members dress in safety gear and check out the scene by foot.
"It requires about 17 personnel on the scene to make that happen," Kerley said. "In addition to that, the hazmat suit's about $1,000. The air pack's about $6,000. The radio's about $5,000, so we estimate about $12,000 per person that's dressed out. And it requires a minimum of about 4 people."
On top of the cost, it would save emergency responders at least one hour in a hazmat emergency.
"We can deploy the drone in about 10 minutes and accomplish the mission without any risk to our firefighters," he said.
Firefighter engineer Adam Daugherty, who originally pitched the idea to the chief, said the fire department is training for much more than hazmat scenes, though.
"Every call we get is different, so we have a general idea and a visual in your mind of what you're going to be going in to be doing," Daugherty said.
For starters, the department has been tracking potential leaks in train cars in the Oak Ridge area.
“We’re practicing looking at the train cars, looking at the springs on their axles to see if they’re loaded or unloaded and gathering the information that we would need during an emergency response,” Kerley said. “Luckily, we haven’t had a response to the train storage area yet, but we’re always preparing for the worst case scenario.”
As a fire department, the crew is also using drones to help out during fires. For example, station ladder trucks usually don't reach more than 10 stories high, so drones can fly up in case of a high-rise rescue.
"We've actually experienced this twice in the city of Clinton when we responded our tower truck to assist them on a manufacturing facility," Kerley said. "A gentleman had a drone on site was able to look at the structure for us before we ever made entry to the roof, so it saves the rest of our firefighters in that way."
Kerley said Oak Ridge Fire Department is hoping to attain its certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) within the next three months.
In working with the FAA over the years, the Oak Ridge Fire Department is also establishing regulations for emergency services use.
Kerley said drone handlers would no longer have to take FAA approved ground school for private pilots and can develop in-house training programs at their respective department. He said fire department pilots flying drones would longer need FAA physical.
He also said handlers could fly drones up to 400 feet, but they would have to notify the FAA if they have a mission within 2-5 miles of an airport.
“If we can keep the firefighters out of danger and use another piece of equipment, another tool, then it’s safer for everyone," Daugherty said.