Work resuming on Floyd Hill; expect overnight closings

PAGE 7 WEEKLY REGISTER-CALLMay 15, 2025

BHFD launches drone program

Hawk, one might spot the city’s

namesake—a black hawk—flying

about. On the other hand, one

might also see something else:

the Black Hawk Fire Depart-

ment’s first drone flying over-

head on a mission.

After the Black Hawk Po-

lice Department launched its

inaugural drone program in

2024, Fire Marshal Jason Walsh

collaborated with Fire Chief

Christopher Woolley and other

city leaders to establish a drone

program for the fire department

this year.

The BHFD’s first drone is

an Autel brand EVO Lite 640T

quadcopter (four propellers)

model equipped with two

cameras: an infrared thermal

camera and a 16x digital zoom.

It was put into service on April

28 and also features AI target

recognition to assist firefighters.

Walsh conducted the depart-

ment’s first outdoor field train-

ing near the city’s public works

building on Gregory Point last

Thursday. “This was our first

time out. We’d scheduled two

other trainings, but the weather

wasn’t good for us then,” said

Walsh. Despite the weather,

Walsh held two indoor sessions

to train firefighters to become

Visual Observers, whose duty is

to keep their eyes constantly on

the drone in flight and inform

the pilot of any nearby situa-

tions such as aircraft, storms, or

birds in the vicinity.

The fire department plans

to enhance its drone efforts in

the coming months. “We have

teamed up with our police de-

partment. Detective Kevin Sagar

is currently developing a Power-

Point and a training schedule,”

commented Walsh. “We’ll be

training on our own, but we’ll

be partnering and doing things

with them. We’ve also written an

administrative procedure for our

department on what’s outlined

to qualify as a [drone] pilot.”

Both the police and fire

departments plan to train any

interested members on the Fed-

eral Aviation Administration re-

quirements for flying a drone. In

the near future, Walsh intends

to start drone-pilot training for

several BHFD firefighters who

have volunteered to learn to

fly. The group will include Fire

Engineer Marc Norman, Bruce

Hollenbeck, and firefighters

Brandon Maxey, Tyler

Jorge Olivas, and Steven

Roybal. “They will begin

their training in the near

future and we anticipate

them being qualified to

fly by July 1,” according

to the fire marshal.

Walsh said the drone

will be used for many

of the same purposes

as those utilized by the

growing number of fire

departments across the

country. “Obviously,

what we’ve identified is

the need for emergency

response, fires, motor

vehicle accidents and hazard-

ous-materials situations,” Walsh

said.

He noted that the drone will

help monitor trees as part of

Black Hawk’s wildfire protec-

tion plan and tree mitigation

efforts. “We’re going to be able

to fly to those areas to check out

the trees, so we can [determine

whether to] cut any of them

down,” remarked Walsh, who

said that using the drone and its

zoom lens will avoid the need for

firefighters to climb steep, rock-

filled hillsides to learn which

trees are dead or infected by

Rocky Mountain Pine Beetles.

“This also will eliminate risk

for us,” continued Walsh. “Right

now, we’re hiking in the hills to

The Autel Evo Lite 640T’s

infrared-thermal lens could also

assist firefighters in mountain

biking crashes or hiking ac-

cidents in the city’s outdoor

recreational areas. “If there is an

incident up on Maryland Moun

tain, we can send the drone up,

assess what we have [at the pin-

pointed location], and send the

necessary equipment and crew

to do the job. That’s better than

sending up a crew that needs to

try and find the location or risk-

ing an injury trying to find it,” he

said. “We can get out ahead of it

by sending the drone and find-

ing out what’s there. It’s going to

be more efficient. What doesn’t

get talked about enough is how

the drone will help reduce the

risk to responding personnel

before sending in anyone or

equipment. We can get every-

thing properly done upfront.”

Walsh said the depart-

ment also plans to use

graph the rooftops of

several casino buildings,

where heating and air

conditioning units are

situated. The department

routinely inspects the units

for safety.

The fire marshal’s truck

was retrofitted as part of

the drone program. A TV

monitor attached to the

drone’s controller can

be used by firefighters to

recognize details of what

the flying cameras are

capturing, enabling them to

make informed decisions dur-

ing emergencies. The work also

included installing electric con-

situations.

Main Street.

there were an incident on the

roof,” according to Walsh, who

became an FAA Part 107 certi-

fied pilot a year ago this month.

He attended a regional Colorado

State University Drone Center

training program at the City of

Black Hawk Emergency Opera-

tions Center on Gregory Hill last

May.

The department will also use

the drone to film the firefight-

ers’ training sessions. “The pilot

can be flying, which will be part

of their training. They will be

videoing the crew that’s doing

their training. We can use that

footage to review and critique

how they’re pulling hoses and

things like that from a different

level. It will give us a whole new

Walsh noted that the BHPD’s

drone was used to take pho-

tos and videos of the Hawley

Merchandise warehouse fire on

March 16 in Central City. Officer

Brandon Davis piloted the drone

and was able to convey informa-

tion about the fire to other first

responders on the scene. “Using

our drone in a situation can help

us know, from above, what the

fire is doing and where it is lo-

cated in the building. From the

ground level, you can only see

smoke and some flames from

one angle. With the infrared

drone camera, we’ll be able to

know where most of the fire is

in the building and dedicate our

resources to that area as part of

our attack plan.

If requested, the city’s drones

could assist the Gilpin County

Sheriff’s Office, Timberline Fire

Protection District, and other

departments.

“The drone program will help

enhance our efficiency greatly,”

said Walsh. “There are so many

uses and we haven’t discovered

everything that we can use it for

– yet. We know what we have

and how we’re going to use it

for the moment. As the summer

months arrive and the weather

improves, we can get out and

use it more. There are just so

many advantages to having this

(Editor’s note: The reporter

also is a FAA Part 107 pilot

who writes the “Age of Drones”

column that appears regularly

in the Weekly Register-Call.)

Black Hawk Police Department’s drone was used to survey the

Hawley Mercantile Warehouse Fire that occurred on March 20 in

Central City.

Drone photo by BHPD Officer/drone pilot Brandon Davis

The new BHFD drone can take off

from the ground or be launched

from someone’s hand. Despite its

size, it can withstand strong winds.

The cameras and AI programs can

track a person, moving object or

animal from a distance.

Fire Marshal Jason Walsh, an FAA-Certified Part 107 drone

pilot, points to a monitor showing photos and information being

transmitted by the drone, technically called an Unmanned Aerial

System (UAS).

The new Autel drone (circled in yellow) hovers above

the firefighters who are learning how drones can help

assist them in the line of duty.

Work resuming on Floyd Hill; expect overnight closings

Patrick Henry Sweeney

Related Posts

Moffat Tunnel lease approved; Gilpin officials continue pressure for train stop in Rollinsville

Moffat Tunnel oil-train decision now at Supreme Court