FireFly: Real-time overview CCS
When fire fighters arrive at the scene of a major forest or heath fire, they need to obtain situational awareness information as quickly as possible: what is the exact location of the fire and where are fellow fire-fighters located? At present, this information is either lacking or fire department commanders receive this information relatively late.
To solve this problem, NLR and its partners initiated the Fire-Fly project, in which fire department commanders are presented with real-time overview imagery of the area where the forest fire is located. This information can then be disseminated to crisis centres, the police, and other fire departments and fire-fighters in the field.
On Wednesday, 11 May, the fire departments of Safety Region North and South Gelderland, together with the Fire-Fly project partners, demonstrated remote controlled aircraft and helicopters that allow fires to be more effectively fought.
The fire departments of Safety Region North and South Gelderland are studying the possibilities for unmanned aerial observation systems and determining if these can be integrated with the fire departments’ information systems. The Fire-Fly project presents fire department commanders with a real-time overview of incidents. A camera on board sends images to crisis centres, the police, and other fire departments and fire-fighters in the field, so that the fire can be more effectively fought. Thanks to Fire-Fly, the fire department performs more efficiently and people and resources can be more effectively deployed.
In this project, NLR is responsible for the technical implementation of the observation system, which includes system design and data storage. Also participating in the project are Nieuwland, Delft Dynamics, Geodan and VNOG.
The consortium of NLR, Nieuwland, Delft Dynamics, Geodan and VNOG will demonstrate the final product.
The project falls under the auspices of the Social Innovation Agenda (MIA) Safety. NL Agency is implementing this scheme on behalf of the Dutch government.
