By Roger Ball

Independent Newsmedia

The Arizona Fire and Medical Authority is now airborne after receiving its federal license to operate a drone.

Assistant Chief Troy Maloney said only one or two other fire districts in the state have been licensed to use the devices. The advantages of the new small flying vehicle were demonstrated to the governing boards of the North County Fire and Medical District and Sun Lakes Fire District at their Feb. 22 joint meeting in Sun City West. Those two districts also operate under a joint powers agreement as the Arizona Fire and Medical Authority.

The drone will be flown by AFMA Capt. Ian Dunbar, who is a trained and federally licensed drone pilot. Mr. Dunbar advised board members the drones must obey certain flight rules from the FAA, including avoiding certain air spaces, and never flying higher than 400 feet above the ground level.

Arizona Fire & Medical Authority Capt. Ian Dunbar prepares the agency's drone for takeoff in an impromptu demonstration during the Feb. 22 AFMA board meeting.

The flying vehicle provides many tools to the fire department that were not available before.

For structure fires, the drone is equipped with both video and thermal imaging cameras, which allow it to fly over a burning structure or other locations and send aerial videos to a fire commander on the ground.

For search and rescue it can quickly fly over remote and rugged areas to try and locate missing people. Mr. Dunbar also demonstrated how the drone can carry small packages, such as thermal blankets and water to stranded hikers and deliver an automatic electronic defibrillator to heart attack victims.

In other action at the meeting, the two districts and the AFMA voted to have their next meetings at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Auditorium, 301 West Jefferson St., Phoenix. The boards are considering making that location the permanent monthly meeting site.

The boards have been conducting their monthly meetings in Sun City West for two months, and then in Sun Lakes for the third month, and then repeating the rotation. Each meeting required a long commute for at least one board, and some staff members when the board met in Sun Lakes. Although there is an adequate meeting room at the North County administration building, there isn’t one in Sun Lakes.

The districts have been discussing this move for a few months. Among the reasons they wanted to make the move is the auditorium is centrally located, it would be provided free of charge and could provide for live online streaming of the meetings, if desired.

Last month the two district boards voted separately in favor of the move, but the full AFMA tabled it when issues about travel and parking were raised. There was concern that it would be difficult for residents of the districts to attend meetings in downtown Phoenix and the move would require the staff to travel every month.

North County and AFMA board member Diane Cheney expressed concern that moving the meetings downtown might also make it more difficult for news media to cover the meetings.

Sun Lakes board member Diane Price moved to have the meetings moved to the downtown location during their board meeting. The North County board also voted in favor, as did the full AFMA board.

The two district boards and the AFMA board have been meeting the fourth Thursday afternoon of each month. That day is not available for the county facility downtown, so the staff is checking to see about moving the meeting days to a Tuesday or Wednesday.

The boards will then evaluate the site after their meetings and discuss whether to continue meeting there.David Wilson, North County board president, indicated there have been problems with the merger, including consolidating policies between North County and Sun Lakes. For the most part the policies are identical, but there are some differences.

“Is this like a marriage where in the beginning you get used to each other and either stay together or get a divorce?” Mr. Wilson asked tongue in cheek.

Rob Biscoe, AFMA chief, likened it to more to watching children grow.

“It’s more like growing pains than divorce,” he said.