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Superior Search and Rescue’s drone program continues to expand thanks to grants from the Portage Health Foundation, Portage Health Auxiliary and Gift Shop, and donations made on Giving Tuesday. The total raised from the efforts is roughly $35,000.
President Darian Reed says the new drone has some very practical benefits compared to the models used in the past. Perhaps the most important is a doubling of the battery life, to around 55 minutes of operating time.
The drone is highly adaptable. The unit’s core can be outfitted with modifications that allow for several useful capabilities. The organization’s press release touts advancements in thermal camera technology, plus “the ability to digitally reconstruct a crash incident and the ability to pinpoint a target and relay that location to first responders on the ground.”
Superior Search and Rescue has expanded the types of situations that utilize their drone. In the past year it was deployed to help provide information about the spread of oil into the Portage Canal following a tanker spill at Santori’s Corner in Hancock. In Greenland Township, near Ontonagon, a drone identified hot spots after the landfill caught fire, allowing crews to target specific areas. It is credited with reducing the amount of time needed to contain the blaze.
