NASA effort to boost aerial firefighting gets US congressional support

A new NASA-led project could improve aerial firefighting operations, helping localities fight fires like the Quaker Run Fire, which burned 4,000 acres of public, private and Shenandoah National Park land in Madison County, in the US state of Virginia, last year.

Virginia Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger commented: “Firefighters from local departments, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and our federal agencies go to work each day to protect our neighbors, and they deserve our strongest support.” Spanberger is backing the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) Act, led by fellow House Representatives Mike Garcia and Jennifer McClellan, which aims to connect rural and wildland firefighters with additional tools to protect their communities from wildland fires.

Currently, aerial firefighting operations using aircraft are limited to daytime and low-smoke environments to prevent crashes. Drones could assist firefighters in delivering equipment to ground crews, improving communications, and remotely suppressing expansive wildland fires, which, in Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Forestry, burn an average of nearly 8,000 acres every year.

“This bipartisan legislation would leverage the advancements made by experts at NASA, better coordinate these first responders’ ability to monitor and suppress wildland fires and support further innovation to help firefighters do their jobs,” Spanberger said.

Brian Gordon, Deputy County Administrator in Madison County, said the county government believes the ACERO Act “can better support wildland operations around the country.

“Our area does not routinely see the extreme fire conditions that are observed in other parts of the country, but having added technology and resources can only strengthen our approach in mediating wildland fires when they occur,” Gordon concluded.

Experts recently discussed sustainable developments in aerial firefighting and the need for continued innovation and collaboration with the AirMed&Rescue team.