VIDEO: The Kern County Fire Department now has some new eyes in the sky to help fight fires, deal with hazmat situations and more. But this time, it’s not a helicopter — they’re brand-new remote-controlled drones.
The fire department is bringing on-line five new state-of-the-art remote-controlled drones to expand its Unmanned Aerial Systems program. Jeremy Ruiz, an engineer and spokesperson for KCFD, said the program is getting built up.
“And with these five new drones, we are going to be able to basically take this UAS program into the future,” said Ruiz. “So the current capabilities are just going to continue to expand.”
The UAS program was spearheaded by Kern County District 2 Supervisor Chris Parlier though special county funding.