Tulsa Fire Department makes history with largest-ever drone response to chemical fire
The Tulsa Fire Department (TFD) utilized Skydio drones, including a docked drone, to respond to a hazardous chemical fire, providing real-time aerial footage to aid in assessing the situation and managing the incident. TFD’s use of the docked Skydio drone enabled continuous monitoring of smoke plumes across the river. The drones helped firefighters monitor the spread of chemicals, improve situational awareness, and ensure safety during the emergency. This marks a major step forward for TFD and the city of Tulsa for integrating drone technology into critical public safety operations. See the news coverage posted here.
- We're learning new details tonight on the Tulsa Fire Department fighting this
- massive chemical fire with new drones.
- Tulsa firefighters used that new technology not only to be able to
- capture those
- incredible images, but also give them different views to
- ultimately help keep
- people safe.
- Fox 23's Kaylie Carnine is live in the newsroom with what she
- learned about the
- different ways TFD can use these drones.
- Well, the Tulsa Fire Department tells me
- that without these technologies, things
- could've been a lot worse, this fire only taking a few hours to get
- under
- control.
- Tuesday, black plumes of smoke filled the blue sky.
- Tulsa firefighters responded to multiple explosions and a massive fire at
- the Axle Royal facility in West Tulsa.
- Director of Emergency Medical Services, Justin Lemry, says despite the
- large size of this fire, it was under control in just a few hours.
- This big fire that we had here recently where, um, a, a
- major incident that is very dangerous, not only to the individuals working at
- the businesses and to our Tulsans, but also to the first responders
- responding to
- that address. We were able to safely mitigate that incident
- because of this autonomous deployment of a drone.
- This is some drone video of that fire.
- The Tulsa Fire Department deployed seven drones, one a special
- drone called a Drone as a First Responder.
- This drone sits at a fixed location at the Gathering Place, less than four miles
- southeast of Axle Royal, and can be deployed to emergencies.
- We provided links to our chiefs, to our first responders on scene,
- so everybody
- who was going to that scene got to see sky view of this
- incident. They got to see where the fire was hot.
- They got to see where it was potentially going.
- Um, and so we were able to move trucks and apparatus in a safe way, uh, to make
- sure that nobody was hurt, and we got the right resour-
- sources on scene in a
- timely manner.
- This technology allows firefighters to know exactly what they're facing and what
- best practices to use by tracking hotspots and thermal energy.
- We don't wanna put first responders in harm's way,
- and that's the benefit of some,
- the, uh, drone technology, is that you can get eyes really close, and
- you can zoom in to see what you got without putting first responders in harm's
- way.
- And that's why that scene was able to be safely mitigated so
- quickly.
- The Tulsa Fire Department was able to deploy this drone because of a
- special waiver
- they received. I'll tell you more on Fox 23 News at 10
- how Tulsa's becoming
- a catalyst for new technologies like this.
- Live in the newsroom, covering news that matters, Kaylie Carnine, Fox 23 News.
- Tulsa Fire is still investigating the exact cause of that fire.
- We reached out to Axle Royal to find out how the damage is impacting their
- operations. We will let you know when we hear back.
Watch Time
2 Mins 34 Secs