Full Notification

Shumont Mtn. SAR Event Tuesday August 15

Broad River Volunteer Fire & Rescue would like to share a couple things with our community. Most already know that we have begun launching a UAS (unmanned aircraft system) a/k/a Drone program. This is not operational yet but hope to have it up and running very soon. As we work towards getting personnel certified, we are also conducting training flights and developing an existing operating guideline. One of our top priorities is to address most citizens concerns with drones being too often associated with invading privacy. This is a new technology within the fire and rescue field however; it has already proven to save lives and property as well as being an added safety tool for responders. Some of its uses include monitoring fire behavior, locating missing persons, bird’s eye view of fire ground allowing incident commanders to monitor fire behavior to make better decisions quicker, and obtain valuable information during a haz-mat incident while keeping responders safe. While this did not cost our taxpayers any funding, we hope it benefits them as well as anyone visiting and all those around us. Just imagine an elderly dementia person missing and how many searchers it takes to cover a large field. This technology can cover several acres within a couple minutes and utilizing FLIR (forward-looking infrared) technology it can locate anything emitting heat with a very high degree of accuracy. Consider all the fires or smoke investigations we respond to and despite being able to see smoke having no immediate idea of how to access it. A UAV can provide a very quick size-up allowing needed resources to be requested while giving highly accurate GPS coordinates on a map so personnel can determine the best access.

On Tuesday August 15, 2017 between 9am and 9pm, Broad River Fire Department will be hosting a SAR (search and rescue) exercise for several other agencies in the upper Shumont Mtn. area. NC DOT Aviation Division & NC Emergency Management are among those who will be conducting training exercises specific to the use of UAV for search missions. Some of the intended areas are adjacent to the Shumont station, Roaring Rock, and Chimney Rock Park (Eagle Rock). All personnel and equipment will be staging and operating out of the Shumont station. During the exercises, residents may see UAV’s both quad-copter style, fixed wing craft, ground support vehicles such as UTVs, and personnel walking. We are making every attempt to contact those who may see or hear what is taking place. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in the technology to drop by and visit. Broad River FD personnel will be available to answer any questions or address concerns.
Please note that nobody will be operating these within close proximity to homes or people without their expressed consent, nor will they be taking video and/or photographs outside of their designated search perimeter.


As always thank you to our community for all their trust & support, we are here to serve you!