Eye in the sky: Alberta startup touts drones as wildfire fighting game changer | CBC News

Cole Rosentreter founded the company three years ago and has a team of mechanical and aerospace engineers that’s helped develop and build the proprietary drones. 

Tackling out-of-control wildfires in Alberta typically involves a helicopter crew sent out in the morning to visually gauge the state and size of the fire. That process can take several hours to get the information back to the command base, Rosentreter said. 

The Pegasus Imagery drones can get that information out quicker. 

Rosentreter said the drones are geared with radar and infrared sensors to take high-definition video and produce near to real-time maps.  

“If we’re able to monitor a fire throughout the night, for example, you don’t just understand where the fire boundary is or where the hotspots are — now you get to see where the fire behaviour is changing the fire throughout the night,” he told CBC News. 

“Did the winds change at 3 a.m.? Well, that will actually affect how you’re going to look at deploying your people on the ground.” 

The benefit to the boots on the ground crews is huge, Rosentreter said.

“Get ahead of the problem and the only way to do that is with real-time information and covering that window, especially the night shift,” he said. “We’re able to take that information and deliver it directly to people in the field.” 

The unmanned aircraft is equipped with patented sensors that can detect and manoeuvre around obstacles like flames and other aircraft.

Drones over fires

Many municipalities use smaller, basic drones to gather information during fires and in follow-up investigations. 

They can typically run about 35 minutes and take snapshots of a scene that must be downloaded later for analysis.

Brian Cornforth, fire chief of Parkland County, called on Pegasus in May to take thermal imaging of the 22,000-hectare fire west of Tomahawk. 

The Pegasus team evaluated the perimeter, located hot spots overnight and provided a detailed and up to date report in the morning, Cornforth said. 

“It put us a couple of hours ahead of the day’s fire activity,” Cornforth said in an interview Thursday. 

They were able to get that information directly to the field staff’s smart devices and save hours of resources in the field. 

“Finding those hot spots early is extremely important because we can action a fire and keep it down in size and that’s very cost-effective for us.”

Cornforth said it costs about $5,000 an hour to hire a helicopter, which would fly during daylight hours. 

Instead of four people searching on the ground for several hours to narrow down the hot spots, he said he can get an accurate picture from the drone’s thermal imaging. 

“It saves me that much more work,” Cornforth said. “That’s where I’m going to recover that cost.” 

Rosentreter said similar technology is used in other countries, but it’s not common in Canada. 

Pegasus is using its drones in other industries and has worked for energy companies to detect leaks in pipelines and supported military training exercises, he noted. 

But Rosentreter said he’s pushing the provincial and federal governments to climb on board with the technology to help with fighting fires. 

“In the last 25 years, I’ve been to major events where that type of technology would have been very helpful for us,” Cornforth said. 

Cornforth also hopes Alberta Wildlife will pay attention to the leading-edge drone work. 

Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s wildfire management branch said it’s evaluating new firefighting tools and practices, such as drones. 

Provincial information officer, Josee St. Onge, said Alberta Wildfire is testing Pegasus Imagery’s products and tools. 

In an email statement, St. Onge said they’re looking for alternative ways to work in conditions when it would be unsafe for people to fly, like at night and in heavy smoke, fog or rain. There’s no timeline for a potential contract, she added. 

@natashariebe