“Being able to fly over and get good situational awareness, being able to provide images and video back to our incident commander so they can make decisions to make sure that fire goes out that much faster… it’s a leg up for public safety,” said Coitt Kessler, program manager for the AFD Robotics Emergency Deployment Team.

Right now, AFD uses drones for fire damage assessments, firefighter safety and search and rescue.

Following the ceremony, members of the public toured the facility. They filed into and examined the large apparatus bay, currently empty as the fire engines had been parked nearby to accommodate the visitors.

The second level includes an exercise area, a deck complete with a grill, maps, lockers, work spaces and a living room area. Fire Department history was also featured, with artifacts and decorations on display throughout the building. Members of the public seemed excited about the kitchen and meeting room, and they also viewed sleeping quarters.

The evening of Thursday, July 27, 2017, security cameras behind the local fire station recorded a young man dressed in shorts setting a series of fires all along the back side of the building--a brazen act that's right in the face of the firefighters and the community itself.