The Menlo Park Fire Protection District’s top official wants it to lead the pack in using drones for emergency operations. “I want this agency to be the lead agency in the United States in the terms of applying new technology,” district board President Peter Carpenter said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “We could be the fire agency that looked at UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and gave them a seal of approval. What’s exciting about that is whoever’s first in that business generally dominates. Second and third entries in certifications don’t do generally well.” Carpenter was discussing a partnership the board unanimously approved between the district and Matternet, a Menlo Park-based startup that develops drones to deliver lightweight goods, primarily medical items sent from one medical facility to another.