Colorado firefighters use drone-deployed dragon eggs against wildfires

Firefighters in Colorado use drone-deployed dragon eggs against wildfires. These ping-pong sized balls have been used to help contain the Grizzly Creek Fire outside Glennwood Springs.

Colorado firefighters use drone-deployed dragon eggs against wildfires

The drone-deployed dragon eggs are small spheres that start small fires when they hit the ground, igniting fires that will use up the Wildfire's fuel.

“It takes about 20 to 30 seconds for this reaction to take place and that's about the time it takes for the ball to hit the ground and settle into place and start this kind of ignition that we have,” Kelly Boyd, Unaweep wildland fire unit leader, and drone operator, told KDVR.

The drone-deployed dragon eggs have recently been used in the fight against the Grizzly Creek Fire that started on August 10 and that burned more than 32,000 acres east of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The fire is now 75% contained and more than 550 Firefighters have been involved in controlling the wildfire.

“We will drop roughly about 200 at the high ridgelines, and then we will sit and see what it does,” Boyd told KDVR.

For the safety of teams and the community, Boyd asks the public to avoid using their drones over any wildfire operations.

“If we have the public flying their drones we don't know who they are and where we are going so we have to shut down operations until we can confirm there's no more unknown drones out there,” Boyd said, adding “We already have a tough time with aviation and loss and life and fatality so we don't want any undue harm to our pilots out there.”

DroneXL's take on fighting fire with drones

Recently, we reported how Trump's ban on drones with Chinese-made parts has increased the risk of wildfires in the United States. Meanwhile, stories like this one show how valuable drones can be in the fight against these raging wildfires.

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