Rescue crews didn't have to stumble through every destroyed building in their search for victims after a tornado ravaged a corner of Alabama this week: They used heat-seeking drones to let them know whether there was anyone beneath the ruins.
In so doing, they joined the increasing ranks of public safety agencies across the U.S. and around the world that have employed unmanned thermal-imaging aircraft during critical situations, including manhunts, wildfires and other natural disasters.
Thermal-imaging drones use infrared cameras that find heat sources on the ground, in buildings or in water, at any time of day, whether from a human or animal, alive or newly deceased, or from other things, such as flames. Officials in China, Nepal and Mexico used drones -- with and without heat-detecting equipment -- after devastating earthquakes. Firefighters battling fast-moving blazes in California's woods employed heat-seeking drones to map fires and search burned homes. They also have been used to locate missing people, as in the case of an 11-year-old girl found last year in the thick woods of North Carolina.
In the San Francisco area, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District boasts a fleet of about 15 drones with varying capabilities, some with regular cameras, some with thermal-imaging ones. During last year's devastating wildfires in Northern California, thermal-imaging drones mapped areas where fires raged. The pictures were sent to firefighters' cellphones, helping them attack the flames efficiently, Chief Harold Schapelhouman said.
In Polk County, Florida, Sheriff Grady Judd has a team of 20 drone pilots on his Aerial Response Team. Polk County uses its thermal-imaging drones at night, finding burglars who thought they were safe hiding in the dark.
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