Webster Groves (MO) held a grand opening October 22 to show off its new Firehouse No. 2 at South Elm and East Rose avenues, TimesNewspapers.com reported.

In April of 2019, voters in Webster Groves backed a $5 million bond issue to replace the city’s 65-year-old firehouse with a much larger, 11,300-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility. Originally estimated to be completed in the spring of this year, shipment delays and building supply shortages stalled the project by six months, the report said.

By Alan M. Petrillo

Drones are becoming more consistent in their ability to hover, are better able to carry heavier payloads, and are using greatly improved camera and infrared (IR) technologies. These and other recent developments in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have increased their use in fire service applications.

Chris Carnahan, South Metro (CO) Fire Rescue emergency communications manager, says South Metro has used its UAVs for a number of types of emergency situations, from structure fires and motor vehicle accident scenes to wildland fires, hazardous materials responses, and search and rescue operations both on land and over the water. Carnahan says South Metro’s primary drones are the DJI Mavic Enterprise Pro outfitted with a state-of-the-art FLIR (forward looking infrared) camera, four DJI Mavic Enterprise Dual drones carrying both visible light and infrared (IR) cameras, and a DJI Matrice 300 UAV.

• See Colorado Springs (CO) Fire Department’s New Drone in Action
• Darley Launches New Unmanned Systems, Metaverse & Robotics Division Aimed at Three Main Markets
• Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department Launches Drone Program
• Drones in the Fire Service: ‘Use Will Continue to Grow’

“The Mavics are the drones that are the quickest to get up in the air,” Carnahan observes. “We are getting them up in three to four minutes after parking the truck.” South Metro carries its drones on three Chevy SUVs and one Dodge Ram 5500 truck with a rescue box.

“We are using the drones for initial attack reconnaissance,” he points out. “We had a recent attic fire during a storm that was still active but were able to get our drone up to survey the scene and detect hot spots instead of putting firefighters on the roof. They also are useful in helping scene commanders make smart decisions based on what they see with the drone, like maybe cutting an inspection hole instead of a full roof vent hole in order to keep firefighters safe.”

Carnahan notes South Metro has used its drones on a lot of water rescues and dive calls as well as for wildland fire surveillance. “We like to have eyes in the air,” he says. “We flew our drones over a third-alarm wildland fire the 4th of July weekend where we put up a cou

By Alan M. Petrillo

Drones are becoming more consistent in their ability to hover, are better able to carry heavier payloads, and are using greatly improved camera and infrared (IR) technologies. These and other recent developments in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have increased their use in fire service applications.

Chris Carnahan, South Metro (CO) Fire Rescue emergency communications manager, says South Metro has used its UAVs for a number of types of emergency situations, from structure fires and motor vehicle accident scenes to wildland fires, hazardous materials responses, and search and rescue operations both on land and over the water. Carnahan says South Metro’s primary drones are the DJI Mavic Enterprise Pro outfitted with a state-of-the-art FLIR (forward looking infrared) camera, four DJI Mavic Enterprise Dual drones carrying both visible light and infrared (IR) cameras, and a DJI Matrice 300 UAV.

• See Colorado Springs (CO) Fire Department’s New Drone in Action
• Darley Launches New Unmanned Systems, Metaverse & Robotics Division Aimed at Three Main Markets
• Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department Launches Drone Program
• Drones in the Fire Service: ‘Use Will Continue to Grow’

“The Mavics are the drones that are the quickest to get up in the air,” Carnahan observes. “We are getting them up in three to four minutes after parking the truck.” South Metro carries its drones on three Chevy SUVs and one Dodge Ram 5500 truck with a rescue box.

“We are using the drones for initial attack reconnaissance,” he points out. “We had a recent attic fire during a storm that was still active but were able to get our drone up to survey the scene and detect hot spots instead of putting firefighters on the roof. They also are useful in helping scene commanders make smart decisions based on what they see with the drone, like maybe cutting an inspection hole instead of a full roof vent hole in order to keep firefighters safe.”

Carnahan notes South Metro has used its drones on a lot of water rescues and dive calls as well as for wildland fire surveillance. “We like to have eyes in the air,” he says. “We flew our drones over a third-alarm wildland fire the 4th of July weekend where we put up a cou

What used to be a place where weddings were held is now Destin’s newest firehouse on Choctawhatchee Bay, TheDestinLog.com reported. 

The Destin Fire Control District bought the Destin Bay House at 127 Calhoun Avenue for $2.3 million and will be called firehouse No. 19. Destin began running calls from the area as early as July 2021, the report said.

But the change over the past several months, from a wedding venue to a full-working firehouse on the west end of Destin overlooking the bay, is almost complete, according to the report.

All that’s left to do is put doors on the building that houses the fire engine and install a ventilation system, the report said.

The property has 90 feet on the waterfront and is located between Clement Taylor Park and Capt. Leonard Destin Park on the bay. On the property is an office space up front, a bay to house the new firetruck No. 19, the living quarters for the firefighters and a dock for the jet skis and a fire boat, according to the report.

For more on this story, please go to TheDestinLog.com.