LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The North Las Vegas Fire Department will soon add drones to their operations in responding to emergencies.
For the past six months, firefighters have been training and earning their FAA license to pilot the two new flying devices.
“This is just another tool in the toolbox,” said Jeremy Hinds, Emergency Management Specialist with North Las Vegas. “It’ll allow us to be a little more efficient and faster to respond to recover.”
Pilots can fly the drones up to 400 feet within 90 seconds. They’re equipped with infrared and zoom features to better assess active fires and hotspots in a residential or commercial building.
“It’ll give our firefighters a different perspective of what that fire is looking like and potential safety issues that we can mitigate from the beginning without having to get people on the roof,” Hinds said.
Hinds also said that North Las Vegas is not immune to large-scale disasters like earthquakes and flooding, so the drones will also be deployed to rescue missions and assist with damage assessment.
The North Las Vegas Fire Department is prepared to launch the drones within the first quarter of the year.
