draft sop for use of drones on initial attack in WUI

[Peteri Szerlagi]

interim draft prospective sop for use of drones on initial attack in
wildland urban interface areas

1. first mission - find head of fire - give lats longs of head of fire
to dispatcher - have dispatcher plot head of fire on map - have
dispatcher provide 'point of best access' for first engine on scene

of course the dispatcher will need a very good map that has up to date
info on dirt road conditions and topography

2. 2nd mission - use drone to document wind conditions at the head of
the fire - give info to dispatcher - dispatcher can model fire growth
and determine the optimum number and placement of engines to control
the fire

3. third mission - if the drone is large enough - ie can drop more
than 10 gallons of gel water at a time - make attack on head of fire -
use water gel to wet the fuel ahead of the fire front

4. a large drone could drag a 1 inch hoseline over the fire and wet
down a large area - however - 100 feet of 1 inch hoseline weighs alot
and does not flow much water - but it could be used in the first five
minutes at a fire - but so could a deck gun - maybe a drone could run
a hoseline over a canopy of trees - interesting idea - a garden hose
run thru the canopy of trees and used to feed a drone equipped with a
nozzle and 5 gallons of gel - it could work - perhaps - perhaps -
perhaps