UAVs deployed for dangerous building search in Northern Ireland
Above:
The quadcopter UAV.
On loan from local company, Search Systems Ltd., specialists in camera deployment for emergency services, the quadcopter and tracked vehicle is operated by a member of Sky Watch to provide live video footage in hazardous or inaccessible areas.
Above: Sky Watch volunteers drive the tracked vehicle into the building in Cookstown following a fire at the premises on Monday 3rd November. The vehicle provided live video throughout the search to the PSNI search team, who then declared the building cleared.
Following a fire at the premises in Cookstown, County Tyrone, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service declared the building unsafe to enter. To ensure no-one remained in the building following the fire, Sky Watch were asked to provide an aerial view into the upstairs of the property and to the rear of the building.
Deploying a quadcopter fitted with a live video feed, Sky Watch volunteers were able to quickly establish the condition of the building internally and provide PSNI officers on the ground with a direct view of the internal layout and level of damage by the fire via video fed to the ground station and multiple iPads.
Above: A Sky Watch volunteer remotely pilots the quadcopter with mounted video camera to the upstairs of the Cookstown building, destroyed by fire on Monday 3rd November. Police search teams were able to assess the damage and search for potentially missing persons using the live video relayed to the ground station and multiple iPads.
This was followed up by a more detailed search using the tracked vehicle, once again providing Police search team members with a live video to establish the building was unoccupied at the time of the fire.
Above: The view from the tracked vehicle as it's prepared to enter the unsafe building. Sky Watch volunteers drive the vehicle into the building in Cookstown following a fire at the premises on Monday 3rd November. The vehicle provided live video throughout the search to the PSNI search team, who then declared the building cleared.
The ability to search the building from a height and internally, reduced the risk to the police search teams and dogs. The reduced search time also allowed local officers to close the scene and return to normal duties.
Above: The Cookstown Duty Sergeant watches the live video from the tracked vehicle as the Sky Watch volunteer steers it through the building destroyed by fire on Monday 3rd November.
Sky Watch is a registered charity with divisions throughout the UK, providing humanitarian search and rescue to assist police and fire services with wide area disasters. Sky Watch (NI) has been operating in Northern Ireland since 2010.
