Hayward, CA-based Skydio, a recognized pioneer in the UAV indoor inspection market, is rapidly moving into a number of new commercial niches.  One important new niche for the company is industrial fire-fighting.  Skydio’s developed a state-of-the art tandem drone system for controlling difficult-to-manage industrial fires that may result from oil, gas and chemical leaks and from transportation accidents.  No other drone company can match Skydio’s capabilities in this important new area.

Skydio’s fire-management system doesn’t displace ground based fire fighting teams, but it does greatly enhance their operations by providing the “situational intelligence” needed to develop a comprehensive fire suppression strategy.   Flying autonomously and continuously, Skydios’ drones allow fires to be assessed from multiple angles and to be contained more quickly, reducing potential casualties as well as property damage.  The drones also collect real-time data for post-incident assessments to better understand the pathways of a blaze and to provide critical tactical lessons for future fire suppression operations.

At the heart of the Skydio system are two of its leading edge inspection drones, the Skydio 2 and the Skydio X2.  The Skydio 2 is a large aerial surveillance drone that flies above an industrial blaze or a train disaster to provide arriving ground fire suppression teams with an aerial 360 degree view of the problem.   Often ground teams are pushed back by the heat and toxic fumes of a blaze and don’t want to risk getting too close too fast without a proper awareness of its direction and intensity.  In addition, their view of the blaze and access to it may well be obstructed by a number of visual and physical obstacles.  The Skydio 2 can circle the blaze quickly and with its high-powered zoom cameras give a close-in perspective on its strength and likely trajectory.

The Skydio X2 is a much smaller drone that can explore areas of a fire or a disaster that may be completely obscured or blocked to field investigation.  In some cases, even ground-based robots are too large and bulky to enter into collapsed structures and cannot operate autonomously as the Skydio X2 can.  The Skydio X2 doesn’t require a GPS signal to maintain continuous contact with a remote pilot.  It can cruise on its own through fire and smoke and with highly developed obstacle-avoidance sensors, can fly without crashing into walls or debris.  With its thermal imaging cameras, the X2 can quickly determine at the outset if any workers are trapped inside or near a burning structure and in need of emergency rescue.

Because fatalities from industrial fires tend to be relatively low, these incidents receive far less attention than seasonal wildfires that annually consume thousands of acres of land, causing billions of dollars in residential property damage.  Most industrial fires occur on commercial properties away from residential areas; the blazes, if detected early enough, are generally containable.  But massive uncontrolled industrial fires do occur, especially in the Midwest, spreading toxic chemical fumes over entire communities and forcing large scale evacuations.  Their long-term environmental impact – on air and water systems, and on human health – is of enormous concern, and places a premium on faster and more effective containment, which should make expanded drone use a top priority.

In fact, the prognosis looking ahead may be even worse.  In 2022, nearly 40,000 industrial fires were recorded in the United States – the world leader, followed by India and Germany –  a whopping 129% increase over 2021.  Experts say that COVID-19 – with attendant lapses in safety protocols – was a major factor contributing to this unprecedented increase.  However, aging and faulty equipment also played a major role in the increase.  Without a major new investment in industrial innovation and workplace and environmental safety, the threat posed by industrial fires is likely to grow even worse.

Skydio is one of a number of U.S. drone companies standing by to enhance the fire-fighting capabilities of private and public sector ground teams.  While other drone companies are focusing primarily on seasonal wildfires during the dry summer months, Skydio is adapting its state-of-the-art technology to industrial blazes, which pose a threat all year long.  Oil, gas and chemical companies as well as municipal fire apartments often find themselves overwhelmed when a plant suddenly explodes or a train derails, leading to raging fires that can easily spiral out of control.  Skydio drones can be airborne within minutes to give industrial fire-fighters the critical edge they need to suppress a toxic blaze quickly and to keep workers, passengers and entire communities safe from its potential ravages.

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