Tenerife debuts drones to fight fires

These drones, which have a thermographic camera, have already acted this week in a attempt produced in Santiago del Teide which affected two hectares. “This endowment, which is coupled with training for the agents who operate the drones, is produced in a pioneering way in the planning of the campaigns against fires in the islands, and it will open a door to technology that until now had not been produced on the island”, recalled Martín.

In the opinion of the insular president, the tools for controlling and extinguishing forest fires “can no longer be limited to a fleet of vehicles, manual tools and hoses”, but it is essential “to evolve and adapt them to the new possibilities offered by cutting-edge technologies” , said the president of the Council of Tenerifewho pointed out that “because of this we have incorporated three new drones with two types of cameraa traditional one and a thermographic one that will allow reaching inaccessible points and even flying at night when a helicopter cannot do it in reconnaissance tasks”.

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“It is a commitment of the Cabildo to renew the provision of Brifor, and we have begun to do so with the replacement of some vehicles and next year we will continue replacing pumpers that have become obsolete”explained Martín, who took the opportunity to show his surprise at this fact: “It is incomprehensible how something as delicate as firefighting has not been invested to always be up to date.”

For the rest, in order to improve the capabilities of this year’s firefighting operation, a continuing education programwhere questions about intervention are addressed in two especially significant areas in Tenerife, such as extinction techniques in large fires and actions in interface fires, according to the Cabildo de Tenerife.