VIDEO: Thursday morning, Monrovia Volunteer Fire responded to a fire with a home fully engulfed.
The perfect opportunity to roll out their newly purchased drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera.
“Every day we find new uses for the drone. This particular event, we found that the thermal imaging camera on the drone was super helpful in spotting hot spots in this fire after most of the fire had been knocked down,” said Lieutenant James Filley.
Filley says 9 members of the volunteer fire department have been certified to pilot the drone. With the drone’s bird’s eye view, Filley says fires are easier spot, and it keeps his crew safe. “Having this drone, we call it a force multiplier, it makes quick work of finding those hotspots and putting them out. It also helps us stay a little bit safer as well because otherwise we’d have to send personnel into the home or the burned out building,” said Filley.