National Parks and Wildlife Service partner with Coillte to tackle wildfires using Drones dronesdrones2.0

Coillte and National Parks to use Drones

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) – of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht – has announced plans to manage the risk of wildfires through drone technology. The NPWS will work with Coillte, Ireland’s largest commercial forestry company to combat the spread of wildfires.

This pilot is the first of its kind, and will initially be rolled out in the Dublin Mountains. It comes after an Orange fire warning (the third highest of four warning levels) was issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine earlier last week, which remained in place until Sunday  – with more warnings expected during the summer months ahead. If the pilot initiative is successful both NPWS and Coillte will look to roll out this technology in other areas.

Over recent years, many rural and remote communities are hugely impacted by wildfires, which can cause significant environmental and economic damage.

Joseph Madigan, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, said:

“We are delighted that Coillte is joining us in this initiative in combatting wildfires during this high-risk period. It’s not just a commercial loss when these fires happen, there is a huge environmental loss resulting from forest fires. The drones will be able to help establish firebreaks and keep wildfires from spreading and reduce the risk of environmental damage.”

Pat Neville, Coillte Communications Manager, said:

“We are delighted to join with the NPWS on their initiative to tackle the growing risk of forest fires. Utilising this technology will allow drones to become our eyes in the skies, and enable our teams to spot the earliest moment a fire starts, helping to save not only the environment but most importantly people’s lives.

Last year Coillte tackled over 150 forest fires with the largest and most dangerous of these incidents occurring in the Slieve Blooms in Laois and Offaly. In 2018, over 600 hectares of the Coillte estate was damaged by forest fires and it cost the State over €4 million to manage. Coillte manages the state’s investment in timber and these are the trees that build homes and businesses so their loss is also a significant economic impact.”

Drone Technology will detect fires earlier

Drones can be equipped with infrared cameras that peer through smoke, as well as sensors for wind direction and other weather variables that affect how fires spread. They will capture continuous footage of areas deem as high-risk and spot small fires that otherwise could not have been detected until they had become much larger and harder to contain.

With the Forest Fire weather warning still in place, we ask people to remain vigilant and report any fires they see to the local fire brigade.

The NPWS and Coillte recommend the following steps to prevent forest fires at this time

– DO NOT light fires and be careful of all activity involving fires
– REPORT any suspicious activity you may observe
– REPORT any forest fires you see to local fire brigade
– DO NOT approach forest fires under any circumstance, they are extremely dangerous
– KEEP access points and forest entrances clear for emergency services

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