The Madeira Beach Fire Department is pioneering the use of new technology in Pinellas County. Specifically, they're developing a program utilizing drones.

  • Department received two drones last November through a grant
  • Each drone worth about $5,000
  • Drones deployed for situation, resource assessment

Fire Chief Derryl O'Neal said the Madeira Beach Fire Department is the first agency in the county to develop a drone program.

“We’ve had some other departments that have used them on a limited basis,” O’Neal said. “I think we’re the first ones to actually start developing a program.”
 
O'Neal suspects that may also be true for all fire departments across Florida. O'Neal said the Madeira Beach Fire Department received two drones last November -- worth about $5,000 -- through a grant.  

“We’ve been training with them since then,” he said. “We’ve actually had three incidents so far that we’ve had to deploy the drones, for people who have been lost or missing in the water.”

Madeira Beach Fire Chief Derryl O'Neal with one of his department's two drones. (Josh Rojas, staff)

O’Neal said the drones have searched for a missing kayaker in the intracoastal that turned out to be a false alarm, and in a separate incident located a missing paddle boarder.

“We had a person fall off of their paddleboard and was actually rescued by another boat, but the paddleboard had drifted away,” said O’Neal. “We were able to confirm that the paddle boarder was not in distress and locate the paddleboard for the owner.”

The chief said the third incident was on Monday, when a call came in for a suspicious object in the water that turned out to be a buoy.

“Rather than having a multitude of resources coming in -- multiple boats, engines, etcetera and having firefighters put themselves in harm’s way -- we’re able to deploy the drone out there to do a quick evaluation of the process and cancel resources if they’re not needed,” said O'Neal.

The standard operating procedures for the drone program are still being written. There are, however, already some strict rules in place.

“Not flying over 400 feet high. You’re not supposed to fly them over buildings,” said O’Neal. “You can’t fly them at night and it can’t be used as surveillance operations.”

Currently, O’Neal himself is the only drone operator because he has a pilot’s license, which is an FAA requirement. Eventually, the chief hopes to have an authorized drone operator on every fire shift.

“It’s the very beginning stages of this operation but it provides a higher level of safety to our community,” he said. “Makes it more cost effective and efficient for our city and a lot safer for our firefighters who are responding to water rescue emergencies.”   

O’Neal said Pinellas County Fire and Rescue is also looking into developing a drone program.

Photo: Josh Rojas, staff