Hi guys!

I recently had the rare opportunity to work with my local fire brigade to capture a prescribed burn off!
Normally bush fires are a no go for drones and have caused issues for firefighting aircraft previously, but seeing as this was a "controlled burn" I thought I'd approach the incident controller and see if they would allow the flight.
The fireys were really keen to see the drone in use and quickly realised the potential uses of this technology in bushfire management and training. It even made it to the local news.

Check out the video below

Pretty neat!  Not often you can get shots like that.

Second that notion. Rare to get this footage and great shooting. Were you nervous at all going above the flames?

Hurley1718 Posted at 2018-4-21 16:10
Second that notion. Rare to get this footage and great shooting. Were you nervous at all going above the flames?

The smoke was causing some signal loss issues and there was some big up draughts rom the flames that knocked the drone around a bit. I was probably more worried about ash clogging up the motors.

Shoot It WA Posted at 2018-4-21 16:17
The smoke was causing some signal loss issues and there was some big up draughts rom the flames that knocked the drone around a bit. I was probably more worried about ash clogging up the motors.

Oh yeah, didn't think about all the ash. That would not be good either.

Shoot It WA Posted at 2018-4-21 16:17
The smoke was causing some signal loss issues and there was some big up draughts rom the flames that knocked the drone around a bit. I was probably more worried about ash clogging up the motors.

One of the dangers to a drone from a bushfire is wind and embers. It does not look like the wind was too strong in this fire but you always need to stay upwind. Unfortunately, if the wind gets too strong, which can happen because of the fire, then the drone can get sucked towards the fire.

That's pretty striking footage.  A stark reminder to us of how these fires can quickly spread. I trust the drone survived the toasting from the updrafts and smoke inhalation?    Thanks for the share.

Great footage   

Shoot It WA Posted at 2018-4-21 16:17
The smoke was causing some signal loss issues and there was some big up draughts rom the flames that knocked the drone around a bit. I was probably more worried about ash clogging up the motors.

Please be careful if you want to fly in this situation. Please do not risk your drone if you only try to shoot a fire.

Be a good tool to have in the box. Would definitely like to have one for 1st response. Was live feed any use for IC?

sky wombat Posted at 2018-4-22 04:42
Be a good tool to have in the box. Would definitely like to have one for 1st response. Was live feed any use for IC?

It was only a very small area they were burning but they definitely got a better over all situational appreciation from the live feed. Would be a great tool for a quick assessment for first responders in an actual emergency allowing for better coordination of resorces.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-4-22 02:09
Please be careful if you want to fly in this situation. Please do not risk your drone if you only try to shoot a fire.

Definitely!