Is there a fire? How big? Where is it going?
When it comes to fighting fast-moving wildfires, information is key and until recently data from the sky had to wait.
Oftentimes, an air crew flies over a blaze, capture images, lands and works the data – soaking up crucial time as firefighters on the ground battle for a while without vital information.
But now a small plane equipped with a state-of-the-art camera and a satellite sits at the ready at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, poised to deliver real-time infrared video and photos to decision-makers on the ground – in seconds.
Right to firefighters’ cell phones.
The Beechcraft King Air 200 is staffed around the clock. An identical plane sits in Sacramento, though it is primed to go up only 12 hours a day.
Between them, they can cover the entire state, each capable of hustling to a fire at 260-miles per hour.
Read more on this story at the OC Register
