Thermal, water rescue team, OhioRescueFind people fast with thermal.
Thermal picks out body heat in smoke, darkness, water and woods. Crews get a location before they commit.
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Structure fire overwatch at night (Ohio Drone Repair video)Situational awarenessOne live view for command.
Command sees the whole scene: exposures, access, apparatus, crews. The same feed can go to dispatch and mutual aid.
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Structure fire overwatch, Summit County, OhioFireground monitoringWatch fire spread and crew positions.
Track spread, smoke, hose lines and crew positions as the fire changes, without putting anyone on a roof.
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Post-collapse view, OhioStructural integritySpot roof and wall compromise from above.
See sagging roofs, burn-through and leaning walls from above, and pull crews back before a collapse.
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Thermal hotspots, Summit County, OhioHotspotsThermal finds hidden heat.
Find heat in voids, attics and debris during the fire and at overhaul, so crews know where to open up.
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Hazmat response, Summit County, OhioHazmat responseAssess from a safe standoff.
Read placards, watch plumes and spills, and track decon from a safe distance with zoom and thermal.
Norfolk Southern derailment response, Columbiana County, Ohio. Photo courtesy of Columbiana County, used with permission.
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Post-fire scene, OhioInvestigationsDocument the scene and the burn path.
Map the scene into an orthomosaic and 3D model. Investigators trace the burn path and keep a record. The same mapping works for storm and flood damage.
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Brush fire at night, thermal and zoom, Summit County, OhioBrush and wildlandTrack fire lines and spot fires at night.
Thermal and zoom side by side show fire edges and spot fires under canopy and in the dark.
Small caged drones fly hallways, stairwells and tight spaces.
DJI Avata 2. Image: DJI.
Hazmat entryEyes inside before anyone suits up.
Check a leak, a container or a room before an entry team commits, and plan the entry from the video.
Thermal size-up of an industrial site, Summit County, Ohio
Clear a buildingCheck rooms for trapped people.
Fly room to room ahead of a search crew to check for victims and hazards.
Interior size-upLayout, smoke and hazards first.
Learn the layout, smoke conditions and blocked exits before crews go in.
Confined spacesGo where people can’t.
Collapsed structures, tanks, tunnels and crawl spaces. After the 2023 Shoregate Towers parking garage collapse in Willowick, Ohio, Lake County officials flew a small drone inside the lower levels to see the damage (News 5 Cleveland).
Under the canopySearch the woods below the trees.
Fly below the tree line where a larger drone can’t see, for searches and brush fires.
Which dronesDJI Avata 2 and DJI Neo 2.
Both are small, light and have built-in propeller guards for close quarters. Ask us which fits your mission.
A Dock 3 on the station roof, or in a pickup bed, keeps a Matrice 4TD charged and ready.
Sensors and rules
The details
Matrice 4TD
640 × 512 radiometric thermal with a 1280 × 1024 UHR mode. 112× hybrid zoom. Night Scene mode to ISO 409,600. NIR light with a 100 m reach. Per DJI.
Zenmuse H30T
1280 × 1024 radiometric thermal that reads to 600 °C (1,600 °C filtered). 34× optical zoom. Laser rangefinder to 3,000 m that pins a subject’s coordinates. For the Matrice 350 and 400. Per DJI.
Zenmuse H20N
Built for night: starlight-grade zoom and wide cameras plus two 640 × 512 thermal imagers. Rangefinder to 1,200 m. Per DJI.
Volunteer departments and waivers
Township fire districts are usually political subdivisions and can use the Part 91 public-safety BVLOS waiver. Independent volunteer companies usually are not; the Part 107 PSO shielded waiver was written for them. FAA waivers & BVLOS.
How many fire departments fly?
Fire and rescue held 326 of the 1,578 public safety drone programs in the 2020 national count (Bard College Center for the Study of the Drone).
Ohio Drone Repair is a dba of Ohio UAV Services LLC, 2236 N Cleveland Massillon Rd, Akron, OH. Trademarks belong to their owners. Specs are the manufacturers’ own, under their test conditions; figures are as reported in the sources named. Not legal advice or an FAA authorization. Photos and video are Ohio Drone Repair’s own unless credited.
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Structure fire overwatch at night (Ohio Drone Repair video)
Structure fire overwatch, Summit County, Ohio
Post-collapse view, Ohio
Thermal hotspots, Summit County, Ohio
Post-fire scene, Ohio
Brush fire at night, thermal and zoom, Summit County, Ohio
