The Billings Fire Department Drone program continues to grow and adapt to the needs of the community. Established in 2020 with funds from a State Homeland Security Grant, the program has become an integral tool to enhancing situational awareness in emergency situations.
The Billings Fire Department, in conjunction with the Montana State Regional Hazmat Response Teams, utilizes Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems for the purpose of aerial observation, information gathering, and emergency operations management with the ability to perform additional tasks as permitted by the Federal Aviation Administration and governed by local, state, and federal rules and regulations. The use of small unmanned aircraft systems to support fire department operations has become widely accepted as a low-cost tool to enhance situational awareness on emergency scenes.
Notable Events:
- Deployed to search for a victim swept away in an irrigation ditch. The victim was successfully located within 5 minutes of launch and then coordinated the rescue of the victim with responders on the ground.
- Found a victim stuck in a tree in the river stuck under a bridge. Information provided by the drone helped to execute a safe rescue in a dangerous area.
- Enhanced response capabilities using by commissioning a custom-built gas monitor mount for the Hazmat team, allowing for atmospheric sampling during Hazmat incidents
For the Fire Department's transparency in practice and use of small unmanned aircraft systems, the complete policy is available for public view. Montana State Regional Hazmat Response Team and Unmanned Aircraft Systems Policy, revised 14 June 2021 (.pdf)
