Posted: Monday, June 2, 2014 12:07 am
|
Updated: 12:08 am, Mon Jun 2, 2014.
newsminer.com
FAIRBANKS — Crews working the Funny River Fire on the Kenai Peninsula received aid from an unmanned arial vehicle last week.
The Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems at the University of Alaska Fairbanks sent a team to the fire line to assist fire crews in containing the nearly 200,000 acre wildfire. The team flew a UAV over the interior of the fire to identify potential hotspots within its perimeter.
The Funny River Fire is the largest active wildfire in the state. It has grown rapidly since it began May 19. As of Friday, it had increased in size to more than 190,000 acres and was engaging the work of more than 700 personnel.
The UAV, a ScanEagle aircraft, was equipped with infrared sensors and cameras, found 15 hot spots within the fire’s perimeter.
Celeste Prescott, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Interagency Incident Management team said in a news release the unmanned aircraft provided helpful support the crews could not have gotten easily any other way.
“It was invaluable because it can fly at night to look for hot spots in the cooler evening hours,” Prescott said. “The only other aircraft that could do that, which would be manned, would have to come from the Lower 48.”
In addition to identifying hot spots during evening flyovers, the unmanned aircraft was able to map the fire boundaries more accurately than manned aircraft, Prescott said. The UAV is able to map more accurately, Prescott said, because it can fly at a much lower altitude than manned aircraft.
The ScanEagle aircraft is 5.1 feet long with a wingspan of 10.2 feet. It can fly for more than 20 hours at altitudes reaching 22,000 feet. It can fly as fast as 60 knots.
The ScanEagle is launched by a catapult and lands with a catch wire. On Friday, it was piloted by a team from Oregon working with the UAF Center. The Friday flight lasted nearly six hours.
Contact the newsroom at
459-7520.
More about Fire
- ARTICLE: Fire damages building in Fairbanks industrial area
- ARTICLE: 100 Mile Creek wildland fire expands another 25 acres
- ARTICLE: North Pole fire damages truck, home
- ARTICLE: Crews contain power line-caused fire near North Pole
More about Funny
- ARTICLE: Comedian Bil Dwyer brings warm humor to a cold Fairbanks
- ARTICLE: Australian comedian ready, Wiling and able to make you laugh
More about Aircraft
- ARTICLE: Aircraft questions
- ARTICLE: Aircraft play important role in controlling Interior Alaska wildfires
- ARTICLE: FedEx donates, delivers 727 jet to UAF
- ARTICLE: Rocket parts picked up in northern Alaska
Posted in
Local news
on
Monday, June 2, 2014 12:07 am.
Updated: 12:08 am.
| Tags: