Interpine’s General Manager, David Herries recently took some time out from overseeing Interpine’s Innovative team and deployed into British Columbia, Canada to help with the wildfires over the 2018 summer. Outside of his role with Interpine, David is also a volunteer Deputy Fire Force Controller for Lake Okareka in Rotorua, as well as being a Situation Unit Leader for one of New Zealand’s National Incident Management Teams. Deployed into Canada with Fire and Emergency NZ, Dave worked as Crew Leader and a 3 pack Initial Attack (IA) Crew and Task Force Leader for the 3 IA crews working in the Cariboo region.
In support of David, Interpine’s remote sensing team were helping behind the scene providing updated satellite imagery and remote sensing products for fires in which he was deployed on, greatly helping situational awareness on the ground. An example below is fire C12302 taken by a 3m resolution near infrared satellite. This types of imagery supplied during fire operations provides great insights for the fire fighters on the ground. From improving safety and navigation, to evaluating the extent of the residual and connecting fuels around fire breaks.
This imagery was then able to be combined into hotspot maps, created by drones / RPAS / UAV’s flying on the fire ground. Sound familiar, this is what Interpine does here in New Zealand as an official drone services and remote sensing provider for Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
The Interpine team were happy to step up and support Dave in his deployment to Canada for 5.5 weeks, ensuring that the everything keep running back home.