Colorado wildfire: Unmanned aerial vehicles deployed as huge blaze spreads
The state deploys state-of-the-art aircraft to gather intelligence on destruction from ongoing wildfires
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Your support makes all the difference.Colorado’s Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) has deployed state-of-the-art aerial vehicles to survey the growing damage caused by several wildfires raging across the state.
The state is employing its multi-mission aircraft programme to provide emergency teams on the ground with real-time information on the size and scope of wildfires, DFPC public affairs officer Caley Fisher told The Independent.
"One of the aircraft is flying over the Spring Fire and gathering some intel," she said. "It's going to send the incident commander and personnel a heat perimeter and it will also show them where the fire line is."
Ms Fisher said the information the vehicle gathers was crucial in providing the fire department an estimate of the acreage the fire covers.
The Spring Fire is the largest of several wildfires currently underway across Colorado, spanning over 14,000 acres as of Friday morning.
Meanwhile, while the Sugarloaf fire has spread over 900 acres in a remote area of Grand County, while a golf course fire that’s west of Grand Lake has consumed at least 20 acres.
In Park County, another wildfire has amounted to over 47 acres, as firefighters reportedly battled to establish a fire line and contain its spread.
Meanwhile, residents throughout the state are being told to prepare to evacuate their homes in a moments notice, with at least 350 homes being evacuated by Wednesday. DFPC plans to release updates on evacuation and containment efforts throughout the weekend.
Hot, dry and windy conditions in Arizona have exacerbated the state’s wildfires in recent weeks, with numerous fires spreading throughout the month of June. Temperatures throughout the state exceeded 90 degrees fahrenheit throughout the week, and over 100 by Thursday afternoon.
Along with its intelligence-gathering multi-mission aircraft, Arizona also occasionally employs aircraft vehicles to drop chemical-retardants on major wildfires like the Spring Fire.
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