Orland Park Uses Drone To Combat Fire
ORLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- A southwest suburban fire department used a drone to fly over a burning house. That allowed firefighters to better attack the flames.
As fire consumed an Orland Park home, firefighters zeroed in on roof hotspots with the help of a drone.
No one was hurt in the fire, which is believed to have been sparked by a lightning strike.
"This morning it proved to be very critical due to the large size of the house," said William Neuman, director of communications for the Orland Fire Protection District. "We were able to sit in the battalion chief's car and monitor a 360 view of the entire house, without putting any firefighters or battalion chiefs at risk.'"
Neuman says the drone can fly 400 feet into the air to identify hot spots.
The fire was under control in an hour.
"It's hard to say how much longer it would have been, I definitely think the drone did decrease the amount of time if took to put the fire out," he said.
Neumann says he has a message for the public about the drone.
"If you do see a drone, don't be afraid to ask the fire department if we're the ones flying it because we want to make sure they take it as a good thing, not a bad thing," he said.
Neuman also wants to stress that drones are not toys and he trained extensively for the last two months to pilot the drone.
