Yearly Archives: 2020

Drones in Fire Departments: The Step-by-Step Process the L.A. Fire Department Followed to Create Their Drone Program

When the Los Angeles Fire Department launched their drone program back in December to help combat the rampant wildfires that were affecting the city, it was a big deal.

Major news organizations around the country picked the story up, and reported on the innovative approach the LAFD was taking to do everything they could to stop the fires.

The story was so widely covered, and the LAFD is held in such high esteem, that at the time we speculated that the launch of their drone program could represent a tipping point that would lead to widespread adoption by other public agencies throughout the U.S., and possibly the world.

We already have a group of firefighters FAA-certified to fly drones, and soon drones will be helping with structure and brush fires, and with accidents, water rescues, and a lot more. The L.A. drone program is going to be one of the biggest in the world.

– Derrick Ward, Los Angeles City Fire Department

But what specific steps did they have to take to launch their drone program?

Given the size of the city of L.A., the potential bureaucratic hurdles required to actually launch something so new were significant. In this article, we’ll share the step-by-step process that was followed for the LAFD’s drone program approval to be expedited, so that the department could have UAVs at their disposal to help with the devastating outbreak of wildfires.

By sharing this in-depth information, we hope that other fire departments can follow a similar approach to help develop and launch UAS programs in their cities. Not all cities will need to take as many steps and include as many stakeholders as are listed out below, but by seeing how this process unfolded in a city the size of Los Angeles, we hope other cities can learn how they might be able to plan and expedite the incorporation of drones into their operations as well.

A quick note: We owe a big thank you to our friend and Drone Pilot Ground School alum Derrick Ward for the information presented in this article. Derrick led the creation of the drone program in L.A., and he’s generously shared his time with us to inform our reporting on the LAFD’s drone program launch and related stories.

Derrick doing a demo for the media outside Los Angeles


1. Proposal of the Drone Program to the Board of Fire Commissioners

In June of 2017, the LAFD submitted a formal proposal to the Board of Fire Commissioners outlining its proposed policy governing the use of UAS in their operations. As part of their submission, they included an in-depth draft of an operations manual that was 30 pages long.

2. Strategic Plan on Innovation Meeting

Following the submission of their proposal, key representatives from the LAFD took part in a “strategic plan on innovation” with city and fire representatives.

3. Presentation to the Board of Fire Commissioners on Draft Operations Manual and Policy of Use

As a follow up to their formal proposal to the Board of Fire Commissioners, LAFD representatives made an in-person presentation to the Board of Fire Commissioners, in which they covered their draft Operations Manual and their Policy of Use.

Here is an excerpt from the proposed Use Guidelines:


We envision this technology being applied in two phases. Phase I will focus on use scenarios limited to:

• Hazard Assessment (with example) related to BUT not during the initial action phase of an incident.
• Hiker (Hi/low angle rescue) Incidents
• Swift Water Incidents
• Extended/Expanded Incidents (FIMT Activation)
• Planned Training Events

Phase II will be identified as the period of time after which the Department has completed the FAA’s process and obtains a Certificate of Authority. These use scenarios may include:

• Wildfire Mitigation
• Flood Response
• High Rise and Commercial Fires
• Hazardous Material Mitigation
• Search and Rescue
• Structure Collapse and Confined Space Rescue
• Pre-Incident Fire Planning
• Post-Incident Fire Review
• Creating Communication Networks during disaster response

4. Public Comment and Feedback/Review from ACLU

Following the presentation and review by the Board of Fire Commissioners, the LAFD opened up the drone program for public comment and review by the City Attorney and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

This step was crucial for getting buy-in, and demonstrating that the proper review steps had been taken to involve key stakeholders—not just those more internally concerned with operational matters, but also those concerned with how a drone program might be perceived by the public.

This review helped make the LAFD’s follow up letter to the Board of Fire Commissioners from Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas that much stronger.


The remaining steps are pretty self-explanatory, and were primarily focused on including key stakeholders, and providing maximum transparency and opportunities for interested parties to both see the value of the proposed drone program, and have a voice in how it was shaped:

5. Follow Presentation for Board of Fire Commissioners with Updated Draft Operations Manual and Policy of Use


6. Presentation to City Safety Committee, with Public Comment


7. Presentation to City Council for vote


8. After City Approval, Request to City Attorney for Declaration Letter


9. Declaration Letter Sent to FAA to Apply for a COA

Want to learn more about applying for a COA? Check out this article on the process.

10. COA Received in December

By luck, the LAFD received their COA in December, right around when the wildfires hit.

Because they had already put in all this work they were able to launch their drone program quicker than anticipated, and get it up and running to help with the wildfires.


As you can see, even though the launch of the drone program was expedited in December, the LAFD had already done the lion’s share of the work to both create the necessary documentation for launching—they had a 30 page Operational Manual in place, as well as a Policy of Use—and to loop in the appropriate stakeholders for approval.

Do you want to build a drone program in your public agency, but don’t know where to start? We hope this article will help you get started with thinking through all of the steps you’ll need to take for a successful launch.

Understanding How Law Enforcement, Firefighters, and Search & Rescue Teams are Using UAS

Insights from the DJI Public Safety UAS Event hosted by Enterprise UAS

While public safety agencies in the United States began utilizing drones in 2013, you’d have been hard-pressed to find many organizations doing so in a major way. Part of that was due to the limitations of the technology, but payload advances that have allowed police and fire departments to do everything from remotely stream live images to utilize a thermal camera to get a heat signature of a roof have proven to be real game-changers. More and more local and state agencies are starting to adopt and utilize UAS technology, but it’s advocates like Los Angeles Fire Department Firefighter Derrick Ward that have helped these professionals truly understand what kind of increased situational awareness the technology can provide.


Derrick Ward at the Public Safety UAS Event hosted by Enterprise UAS

Derrick has showcased the success of the LAFD’s drone program and also explained in detail how the technology can literally save someone’s life. While we often highlight the benefits drones represent when it comes to saving time and money, Derrick is far more focused on the lives that can and are being saved with drones every day. By providing public safety crews with drone training resources that directly lead to better outcomes, Derrick has been able to help departments understand what it can mean for them and for the public they serve when they properly adopt drone technology.

That passion and expertise is just one of the reasons he helped lead a recent 2-day public safety event for Northern California public safety professionals interested in starting or expanding their UAS program. Hosted by DJI and Enterprise UAS, the event explained and explored how law enforcement, firefighters, and search and rescue teams are using UAS and FLIR thermal imaging cameras to aid in situational assessment, fire management, and search and rescue operations.

We caught up with Derrick to find out more about the event, how his conversations with his fellow public safety officials have changed, what kind of benefits the event helped enable for entire departments and much more.

Jeremiah Karpowicz: How have you seen the general acceptance and public perception of drone technology change over the past few years? Have those changes been positive or negative?

Derrick Ward: Over the past few years, drones have become central to the functions of various businesses and governmental agencies. The industry has been able to pierce through the initial negative perception of the technology to prove its’ capabilities in terms of cost-savings and time management while also creating a path for public safety to do their jobs more efficiently and safely. The commercial use of drones is gaining steady momentum and has become one of the fastest moving technologies within many industries, but many of the leaders in those spaces are still limited to just a handful of players creating a positive outcome for good using this technology.


As one of those leaders in the public safety space, I’m curious to know how the conversations you’re having with public safety officials might have changed since you began using the technology? Are many of them seeing a real difference?

We’re absolutely using the technology to save more lives and property to make a real difference. We still share some of the same challenges of acceptance of this technology. Today there are only somewhere around 1,100 to 1,300 other safety agencies using or starting to use UAS to save lives and property. But this number is continuing to grow.

The more we’re able to illustrate UAS capability, the more business and public safety will consider it a necessary tool in their toolbox.


What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve seen departments make when it comes to adopting drone technology or creating a drone program? Is there a key to success in this regard?

The technology is only as good as its’ user.

For public safety departments to successfully utilize unmanned aircraft, it’s essential that fire or police have a standard operating guideline on what their objective is for an emergency incident. They need to know the data that they are trying to collect, and what is their workflow in gathering it. This is such a new technology, and that’s why it’s essential for an end-user to be extremely familiar with the aircraft and payloads that are attached to it. Just like with any other emergency, firefighters and police must train continuously to understanding UAS capabilities and what they’re looking for.

For instance, when utilizing a thermal camera during a search and rescue, many factors must be taken into account to have a successful rescue. You must understand the capabilities of your camera and the proper setup to get a valid heat signature. You’ll need to know which altitude you fly at, what speed you need to go, and what that thermal image will look like once you see it. This is all accomplished through training.

I see many departments recognizing that the training is as necessary as the aircraft. It’s crucial that public agencies set aside funding for their UAS program specifically for training. I have found that this is one of the more significant mistakes when first beginning a program.



From the Public Safety UAS Event hosted by Enterprise UAS

I imagine that focus on training was explored in great detail during the DJI Public Safety UAS Event you recently participated in. What kind of response did you see and witness at the event? Where were many of the participants coming from?

The event was an overwhelming success. DJI and Enterprise UAS hosted a free, 2-day public safety event for Northern California public safety professionals interested in starting or expanding their UAS program. There was instruction on how law enforcement, firefighters and search and rescue teams are using UAS and FLIR thermal imaging cameras to aid in situational assessment, fire management, and search and rescue operations.

The participants were people from agencies, both fire, and police. Many of them were just starting their programs. Some of them wanted to get one started.


Tell us about some of the scenarios and applications that were showcased at the event.

We set up a scenario where we had a hostage inside a commercial building. The police flew a DJI Mavic Pro into the building through an open window. Once the drone was inside, it went down a stairwell and was able to go in each room, clearing the rooms to confirm a room was safe. All the while, the drone was transmitting these images to the IC. There were SWAT teams for many agencies watching this operating procedure with a drone. The officers were overwhelmed by the information that was being gathered and shared so inexpensively and quickly.

uhl-03Another training scenario was set up was with an Inspire 1 and a drop system. We were able to show the best way to safely drop objects such as a life vest, radio, or tagline with the drone. The difference it can make to be able to drop that kind of equipment to people in need during an emergency rescue is incalculable.


How did the technology factor into these scenarios?

In the search and rescue scenario, I was able to explain the technology behind the Zemuse XT2 and the Z-30 cameras carried by the DJI Matrice 210. I went through all the settings and how to set them appropriately for a search and rescue. It’s a pretty extensive procedure, but to give you a brief sense of the info I was able to share, I explained how we use the XT2 and the Z-30 simultaneously to gather critical information while performing a search and rescue.

As we fly at a given altitude and a given speed, the XT2 has an alarm system that can be set to go off based on the specific temperature reading your looking for. So as we fly, we are searching for a color-graded object along with a temperature reading that identifies something different in the image then everything else. Once we have an indication that we may have something, we can flip off the XT2 and switch over to the Z-30 to verify what we have. These two cameras working together are extremely powerful and useful. The important thing is knowing how and when to use them.

We also had many other scenarios set up to teach on the Mavic Enterprise Duel drone and its MSX FLIR technology and how they differ from the XT2. Both thermal cameras are used for different operations based on capabilities.


What do you believe were some of the significant lessons learned by attendees?

I think what they found is that you don’t know what you don’t know. We’ve heard that said before, but in this case, it’s true.

As I’ve mentioned previously, UAS and their payloads are only as good as the trained user. It’s always important to me to show a UAS pilot not just how to use the technology but how to go home and continue digging in and learning about its capabilities and the use cases that it can be deployed on. Many of the techniques that were taught were brand new for attendees. For instance, we had AMV video streaming solution for public safety demonstrate the technology and capabilities and how to use this technology on an incident. It’s fully encrypted, and many viewers can view at the same time with a 1.5 to 2-second latency.


uhl-04What kind of feedback did you get from attendees after the event was over?

We received a tremendous amount of feedback from participants stating that the training was extremely useful and valuable to them. It’s truly an honor to be able to help these agencies better understand this technology that I’m so passionate about. Many expressed that they saw how it can be utilized to really save lives and property. Now they can go back to their agencies and train their pilots to have a better and fortified program.

I’ve always said that it’s essential to train the trainer. This technology and its capabilities really need to be shared nationwide. And these attendees are now at the tip of the spear when it comes to the creation and development of these public safety UAS programs.

Enterprise UAS continues to create and share that value to public agencies nationwide. I am very grateful to be a part of that mission.


If there’s one thing you want public safety officials to know about this event or others that you’ll be part of in the future, what would it be?

As public safety workers, we have a responsibility to utilize any and every tool available to help in the effort of saving someone’s life or their property. If a new piece of technology can do that, then we have to put in the time to understand it. Once these capabilities are understood, then anyone who doesn’t embrace it is negligent in that responsibility. You can’t stick your head in the sand or just continuing to do things the way we’ve always done them.

If you’re thinking of starting or already have started a program, let Enterprise UAS know if you need help. We can come to you and your department to train. Or please feel free to reach out to me personally if I can help answer any questions in your pursuit to develop or perfect your UAS program.


More pictures from the event are below. You can also find out more about Derrick and his work with Hot Shots Aerial Photography and Enterprise UAS.

The Public and Commercial Impact of Drone Technology – An Interview with Derrick Ward

n a trendsetting move for public safety officials across the country, the Los Angeles Fire Department utilized drones during a wildfire to provide firefighters with real-time situational awareness in order to assess how to best approach mitigating and eventually eliminating the fire. The Skirball fire was just the beginning, as the LAFD’s use of drone technology has expanded to the point that they’re using the technology to do everything from assess property damage to determine that an area is too hot to send a firefighter into. The difference drones can make in these emergency situations is as real as it is essential for the firefighters who are on the ground and actually using this technology.


Derrick Ward

As a Firefighter for LAFD as well as the CEO of Hot Shots Aerial Photography, Derrick Ward is one of those Firefighters on the ground. He understands better than most what it means to utilize drone technology in public and commercial contexts, which go beyond talk about efficiency and safety. His clients have emphasized the opportunities his services have opened up for them, while emergency response professionals have come to realize the importance of the better situational awareness the technology provides.Derrick has previously talked about the L.A. drone program eventually being one of the biggest in the world and also detailed the step-by-step process that the LAFD utilized to create their drone program. In the interview below, Derrick further details how and why the LAFD drone program has been able to achieve the success it has achieved and provides some specific advice for anyone who wants to do the same. He also discusses how he’s been able to provide value to his clients and underscores the stakes associated with utilizing drone technology in public safety. Jeremiah Karpowicz: Tell us a little bit about how and when you came to realize the potential of drones to positively impact emergency situations.Derrick Ward: I’ve been in the firefighting industry for over 30 years. In that time, I’ve been certified in Arson, Haz-Mat and also became a Certified Fire Instructor, Counter-Terrorist Tactics and Procedures, ARRF Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting. I’ve always had a passion for aviation though, and I had been flying quadcopters for 3 or 4 years before the technology really came onto the scene in 2015 or so. Because of that, I was able to see the value of UAS and how to incorporate its capabilities within the emergency services in all aspects.For Hazardous Chemical Spills, measuring the damage and providing relief has to be swift and effective. Drones are also able to provide aid in monitoring for radiation exposure, repairing destroyed areas and rebuilding efforts — all while minimizing nuclear fallout exposure for relief workers.These events, (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive) make for unsafe conditions for rescue workers exposed to the hazardous materials in nearby areas. Drones can remove that exposure and improve assessment and rescue times. tpc-02What kind of practical difference can drones make in an emergency situation?To give you a specific example, we can fly a drone equipped with a thermal camera over a building that’s on fire to get a heat signature of the roof. There’s a specific color grade that we can see from that sensor which will tell us if the fire is burning too close in an area, and that we need to keep people off of that roof. That’s information we wouldn’t have otherwise.That can be a difference between me or another firefighter going through that roof and getting injured or worse. That happened with a buddy of mine not too long ago. It was a commercial building with a flat roof, and he fell through that roof and got burned. Thankfully he’s okay, but if they had a drone with them they could have used it to identify that that was a bad area.These practical differences are all over. We’re using drones to help assess evacuations, and I was told a story where a fire department was able to use their drone to find a missing child that otherwise would have frozen to death in 33° weather. The infrared sensor allows you to pick up someone’s heat signatures so you can find someone that much faster, which is especially critical in situations where time is of the essence.These are all just scenarios. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that we know factually this works. There’s no question in my mind that in ten years, every single fire department in the country will have a drone program. It will be seen in the same way as not having fire hoses on your fire trucks. Everyone is going to see that you need these. More and more public safety officials seem to be coming around to that concept, but I’ve seen many struggle when it comes to the logistics of getting a program up and running. Given those challenges, what more can you tell us about the first three steps of your step-by-step process to launch a drone program?I’d elaborate on those as follows:

  • Proposal of the Drone Program to the Board of Fire Commissioners

This was extremely important to get the Board of Fire Commissioners to see that we had completed all of the research and work to get the initial approval. We prepared an outline of the proposed policy governing the use of our UAS operations. We prepared an in-depth draft of our operations manual. We wanted to show that we were thorough so we could minimize any doubt.

  • Strategic Plan on Innovation Meeting

Following the submission of our proposal, key representatives from the LAFD took part in a “strategic plan on innovation” meeting with city and fire representatives. It was extremely important to have city representatives onboard and involved in the decision-making on developing an LAFD UAS program. The majority of our success was built on creating a positive public and community perception. This included approaching the ACLU first, and then eliminating any concerns that may come up going forward.

  • Presentation to the Board of Fire Commissioners on Draft Operations Manual and Policy of Use

As a follow-up to our formal proposal to the Board of Fire Commissioners, LAFD representatives made an in-person presentation to the Board of Fire Commissioners, in which we explained our draft operations manual and our policy of use. This described our operations on specific emergency responses including wildfire, flood response, high-rise structure fires, search and rescue, structure collapse and confined space rescue, and natural disaster responses. It was and is extremely important to identify specific use, advantages and capabilities of UAS systems when going forward in the proposal of this type of program.  tpc-03What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve seen departments struggle with as they work through this kind of drone program adoption process, and how can they best avoid or resolve them?One of the biggest mistakes a lot of departments make is that their eyes are too big. They’re trying to figure out all the different sensors and cameras they can put on a bunch of drones, but it’s best to start simple. Get an inexpensive drone. Train some pilots. Get some policies and procedures in place. Get all of that worked out, and then go from there.The thing to remember is that you need to build a program on a strong foundation, and just because you have a drone and someone with a Part 107 Certificate doesn’t mean you have a program. There’s a lot more to it than that. You can get shut down quickly if you don’t consider privacy concerns or all the details related to operational procedures. Those privacy concerns were a major consideration for the LAFD since the department got pushback from the public as your program was coming together. How were you able to both address this feedback and refocus the concerns raised by the public?      The trouble is that historically, the only time you ever heard about drones was in a military context. Recent news coverage has also been a problem, because how often do you see a story about how a drone is flying in someone’s backyard or getting in the way of an aircraft? That’s all people are hearing.What they’re not hearing is all the great success stories about drones being used to save someone’s life or finding a little kid that’s lost in a field. It’s one of the reasons that we need to take it upon ourselves as leaders in the industry to go out and start teaching the general public on what this technology is doing and that we want to increase and accelerate its abilities. It’s why I take a personal responsibility to teach people the positive effects that drones can have on saving lives, on saving money, on doing all the great things that they do because there’s so much to it.When people see me flying a drone and come up to me to ask what I’m doing, I take the time to talk to them and explain what I’m doing. I want them to understand who I am, what I do, and then what this technology does and how awesome it is. I just take that time to educate them rather than get offended. I want to educate and help people understand this technology, and anyone who’s seriously interested in the technology, whether they’re using it in a public or private setting, needs to approach it with that same mentality. tpc-04Speaking of that difference between public and private applications, you’re one of the few people who has a deep knowledge of both, given your work with the LAFD along as well what you do at Hot Shots Aerial Photography. What can you tell us about the aerial imaging you provide for the construction, agriculture, energy and insurance industries?Drone technology has applications across a variety of industries. To own and operate a successful drone business, you need to decide which industries to target and what services to provide. While still flying and helping to develop the UAS program with Los Angeles City Fire Department, at home I fly commercially for real estate agents, land developers, news agencies, and any other client that would require Aerial Photography.I have been fortunate enough to be able to bring two of my passions together, combining my work and love of the UAS Industry with my 30+ years of firefighting service. Because I’ve already done it from start to finish, I will help a company or emergency service provider establish their own UAS program. In what ways have you seen the aerial imaging you’re able to provide to your clients impact their bottom line or drive a business decision?  You don’t always get to see just how well aerial photography will benefit a client and their bottom line, but I know it’s made a difference. And there are stats to back that up.With real estate alone, there’s a well-known stat that 83% of home sellers prefer agents who use drones to market their property. High-volume agents use aerial photography 3.5 times more often than low-volume agents. I’ve gathered viable information by flying a property for a developer that they then use to promote and generate interest in that area. Using aerial photography and mapping software, we can give a buyer and seller a better understanding of the property and area being developed quicker, and with more detail. Being able to define the ROI of the technology is a problem for many drone service providers, and I wanted to ask how you were able to overcome any initial hesitations that potential clients might have expressed to you.Some of this goes back to the transparency that’s essential in public safety applications but is also important in commercial settings. We often forget how new this technology really is. This is the first time some people have been exposed to the technology outside of that military context, so we need to focus on not only educating people about it, but also proving what it can do.Today, I work with some of the largest realtors in Utah, but many of those relationships started with me introducing myself and offering to fly their site for free to show them what I could do. I saw it as my job to educate them and show them what the technology could do. So that’s what I did.

From that, I’ve gotten countless referrals and examples of where and how my clients are using the info I provide to them. That’s everything from promotional videos to surveys. People don’t know what they don’t know, and it’s one of the reasons I’ve had to go out and do it before they see it. I’ve tried to explain it, but they don’t get it. For some reason, they don’t absorb and understand it, but if you do it for them, and show them, all of a sudden they’re all in. tpc-05What would you say to someone in both the public and commercial sectors who sees the potential applications and benefits of drones, but aren’t sure the technology is going to be a fit for their department or workflow?Just think back to the 1980s, and the reaction to predictions about there being a computer in every household. Some people just couldn’t see it. Others did though, and they were the ones who benefitted in a big way. It’s why any business looking at the technology needs to come at it from the perspective of a business decision.To be successful as a business in just about any industry, you need to know what’s going to happen before it actually does. If you want to be successful, you have to be able to read the signs of where things are and where they’re going. With drones, we can already see where things are going, and the differences are incredible. People can question what the FAA is going to do and where regulations are going to go, but none of that is going to change the fact that this technology is making a difference right now, and it’s going to make an even bigger difference in the future.Adoption in the public sector is so much more important though, because of the safety implications. Anyone not looking at this technology is literally putting people’s lives at risk. It’s why I have more of a responsibility to make sure that on the emergency side of things, people know that it’s absolutely necessary to have and use technology. It’ll be even more necessary tomorrow because the technology will be better and be perfected with easier regulatory hurdles, but that doesn’t change the lives that can be saved with it today.