Firefighter says robot dogs and drones are here to stay, but cannot replace our Bravest
NEW YORK -- The response to Tuesday's parking garage collapse in Lower Manhattan was bolstered by new technology. It included a robotic dog and drones that could get inside the dangerous collapse zone.
The city just last week announced it was adding robotic dogs for the police department for things like hostage situations. After the mayor got criticism for spending that money then, he couldn't help but say "I told you so!" on Wednesday.
"Just one week ago, I was being criticized by all the folks in the bleachers, saying, 'Well, why are you getting that dog?' Now you see why I got the dog -- to save lives," Adams said.
READ MORE: Mayor Adams: Robotic dog, drone used to assess Lower Manhattan parking garage collapse
Indeed, the robot dog can go where no man had gone before -- into the collapse -- and, yes, it can save lives.
"If we didn't have that robotic dog we would have placed those firefighters in jeopardy," Adams said.
The robot dog can handle rough terrain like rubble, and even when it went down, trust us, it got back on its feet.
"Like when we fall, we got back up, Snoopy got back up," Adams said.
Most importantly, it provided a flow of crucial information on conditions inside.
"He'll have some type of video. He may have sound associated with it. He actually probably has some type of metering associated with it, whether it's gas meters or whatever," Yonkers Fire Lt. Mike Giroux said.
And then there's the bird's-eye view given to rescuers from drones that have already been used fighting fires, but on Tuesday it went to another level.
"They're able to stream, stream the video directly to our phones, directly to our command center. This is the first time that we've been able to fly inside to do this and try to get us some information," FDNY Chief of Fire Operations John Esposito said.
The technology comes at a cost that right now is prohibitive for many smaller departments. But make no mistake, it's revolutionizing rescue work.
When asked if this is the wave of the future, Giroux said, "I do believe it's gonna be the wave of the future and, again, it's a tool that we're gonna use. But to extricate those individuals out of a collapse zone, a tranch, out of a structure fire, it still has to be the firefighters performing the work."
Giroux said the public will be seeing more and more robots and drones in other departments when the prices go down.
And, indeed, there is no replacing those brave firefighters.