One of Carbonix’s Volanti drones is shown off at the field day in November 2024. Photo: James Day.
Drones could be a “game-changer” in the fight against bushfires, according to a company involved in research in the ACT.
ACT Rural Fire Service Chief Officer Rohan Scott said the biggest challenge firefighters now face when battling bushfires was the change in fire behaviour – and drones could help.
“We’re seeing fire behaviour that we wouldn’t normally see at night. So typically, that 3 o’clock in the afternoon fire, we’re actually now seeing at night,” he said.
“So our opportunities to do some strategic backburning, and also our first suppression tactics, are changing compared to what they were previous to that 2019/20 fire season.”
Mr Scott said firefighters had noticed how fires that wouldn’t have typically spread during the day under low conditions were “starting to have a run”, while the ignition for a fire was becoming easier with some vegetation types. Also, vegetation types had changed as surface fuels and low shrubs and grasses developed in areas that were previously forested canopy.
However, Mr Scott thought drone technology could “definitely” help with some of these issues.
“The technology in drones allows early detection, but then also gives us some real-time situational awareness [and] mapping,” he said.
“It also allows our crews to look at what are their safe options for escape routes.
“That bird’s-eye view just gives them a really good understanding of what they are currently facing and what they could face into the future.”
Mr Scott said drones were starting to become a regular tool in firefighting, but had not progressed as far as firefighters liked yet due to several different issues, including regulatory hurdles.
However, he expected drones would become a “pivotal part” of firefighting resources and would replace staff who worked from the air, as drones were a safer option that could also be used 24/7.
He was speaking at a field day hosted by the Australian National University’s (ANU) Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence (BRCoE) to showcase the centre’s collaboration with technology companies aiming to revolutionise bushfire detection and suppression.
The event included a demonstration of Carbonix’s Voltani drones, which were used in the devastating bushfire season in Canada last year.
At the field day, the drones conducted aerial surveys over two fire sites and streamed live video feeds to a unified ground station as part of a research collaboration with the BRCoE.
This research aimed to determine the most effective flight paths and payloads for detecting and monitoring bushfires, including ‘zombie fires’ which smoulder underground and can reignite weeks after initial suppression.
Carbonix founder Dario Valenza said when it came to bushfire management, there were several ways drones could become a “game-changer”.
For instance, they could be used in fire prevention by looking at fuel loads, as well as in fire detection by looking for smouldering trunks after a lightning strike and being able to identify the fire early to intervene before it got out of control.
Mr Valenza said drones could be used to get real-time situational awareness about how a fire was progressing and assess damage after a bushfire.
“The commonality in all these applications is you need to be able to cover large areas,” he said. “To do that, you need an aircraft that can support that coverage, and that’s where Carbonix comes in.”
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