Shahn Sederberg/Colorado Department of Transportation
Wildfires are a top concern in western Colorado, but infrared and geospatial technologies are helping the state look to the skies and improve ground preparedness.
Colorado’s Multi-Mission Aircraft Program uses infrared technology, two color cameras, and a geospatial database of sophisticated aircraft to contain fires statewide.
“This camera is a military camera that is used in many defense-type missions,” said Bruce Dicken, deputy director of the Northwest Colorado Department of Fire Protection. “It’s very accurate and tells you exactly where you’re looking.”
It was the first such program in the country.
“If a fire is burning down a particular canyon, mountain, or hillside, it’s difficult to know exactly where the fire is if you can’t actually see it,” he said. “You can see it from an airplane or a helicopter, but one of the things infrared does is see through smoke.”
Two such planes are stationed at Centennial in Colorado and can reach most of the state in less than an hour, even if the weather affects takeoff. Both aircraft are Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, turboprop aircraft capable of safely cruising at altitudes in excess of 20,000 feet.
“So far this year, 81 new fires have been discovered, 75 of them in Colorado,” Dicken said.
The plane is equipped with infrared and color sensors, is controlled by two sensor operators from the fire control department, and is steered by the pilot.
According to the Colorado Fire Protection Administration, the plane is integrated with a geospatial database to display incident images and details to local fire managers via a web application called the Colorado Wildfire Information System.
“They use that computer system to not only operate the cameras, but also to draw maps, write reports, email things, and everything else.” Dicken says.
Primarily, aircraft are used to detect fires, but they also provide real-time information to ground forces, a tactic used in the Grizzly Creek fire.
“Every day we were flying over the fire while it was happening,” he said. “With the camera, we can track the perimeter of the fire, map it and send it to people on the ground to know exactly where the fire is and where it should be lit. “
Operators working in the back of the plane can also map near where the lightning struck to see areas of fire that are still smoke-free.
“On board, we can take a lightning map and trace where the actual lightning strikes occurred and look specifically at those areas,” said Ryan McCurry, Northwest Vice President of Fire Management. says. “If there’s a lot of lightning in a particular area, they can actually go to that area and search and see if they can find any new fires.”
The infrared camera’s flame spews fire, McCulley said. In the past, states had to wait to discover smoke from planes.
“People see smoke and call 911. That’s one of the ways it’s still done,” he said.
Dicken said it’s a Colorado property and has a wide range of uses. It was purchased exclusively for wildfires, but it has many functions such as search and rescue, flood management and even landslide assessment.
“I think about Glenwood Canyon and some mudslides,” he said. “It would have been a great tool because it allowed people to know what the damage was long before they actually got in there and evaluated it. .”
This article is from PostIndependent.com.
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