Colorado has unique eyes in the sky to detect, map wildland fires

CENTENNIAL, Colo. ( KDVR ) — Colorado has a unique program to help detect wildfires, and FOX31 got a first-hand look at the state’s Multi-Mission Aircraft program.

“This as a military platform, we’ve borrowed this idea from the military, brought it over to the civilian side and used it for fire detection,” said Jeff Rasmussen, MMA unit chief and program manager.

The MMA unit has two airplanes outfitted with special infrared and color sensors that can take off and be over a wildland fire almost anywhere in Colorado in less than an hour.

“It’s really caught on and demand has skyrocketed,” Rasmussen said. “On a busy day, you know, both planes are going to be in the air. From request to when we’re wheels up is about 30 minutes.”

The primary mission of the program is detection, but it’s secondary mission is providing near real-time information to ground forces during initial attacks on wildfires.

“Our whole mission is to find them small and keep them small and I think we’re very effective at that,” Rasmussen said.

Dispatchers or incident commanders can order these aircraft to detect and recon wildland fires. With recent lightning, the team is receiving a number of calls. The MMA team showed FOX31 the technology along with footage from recent detection and mapping missions, as seen in the above video.

Rasmussen said the technology is capable of picking up heat signatures no bigger than a dinner plate.

“We can see those from 10,000 feet, no problem. And so we’re able to take images, get location data on those starts and relay that information to either firefighters or the appropriate dispatch center so that they can then allocate resources,” Rasmussen said.

“As far as seeing exactly where that fire location is can be difficult with the naked eye. But with our infrared sensor, we’re able to look through smoke and really pinpoint the location of the fire and map it out exactly where it is, which is really valuable intel,” Rasmussen added.

In addition to detecting and mapping out fires, can also support other all-risk emergencies like search and rescue, assisting with wildlife counts and avalanche intel too.

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