B.C. companies developing wildfire-fighting drones

A pair of B.C. companies are hoping they can make a difference in the province’s future wildfire response, using drones.

Alex Deslauriers, CEO of Fireswarm Solutions, says his company, along with Strategic Natural Resource Group, are working on creating an unmanned aircraft that could fight fires — with one ground-based crew member able to control five machines at a time.

Despite the small size of drones, Deslauriers says the initiative could make operations more efficient.

“The load carried by three of our machines is equal to the load carried by a medium sized helicopter. But because these machines are designed to only carry load and not humans, we’re able to bring down the cost per hour at a fraction of the rate of a helicopter,” said Deslauriers.

He says they’re building a drone that would be able to carry 400 kilograms of water loads to fight fires in remote areas that could be dangerous for crews to reach.

Domenico Iannidinardo, CEO of Strategic Natural Resource Group, adds that the drones would be able to tackle fires at any time of day, including night, when fires are at their coolest.

“So everyone agrees that this is exactly the type of work we want machines to be doing,” said Iannidinardo.

Deslauriers says no work is being replaced and helicopter operators see the initiative as a supplement to current practices.

“Everyone understands that our current resources are streched thin,” he said.

The CEOs say they are working to make the drone initiative a reality for the “next fire season” in 2026.

—With files from Mike Lloyd and Srushti Gangdev