The Project

Going Beyond Merely Enhancing Wildland Fire Decision-Making with Real-Time Thermal ISR Drone Data.

The Mission

The mission of this website is to serve as a web‑based gateway for fire department leadership, responding personnel, and crews on the fireground to rapidly obtain real‑time information about the status of a wildland fire. This information is delivered by drones equipped with visible‑spectrum and thermal cameras streaming live video. The footage is transmitted from the aircraft and streamed through YouTube, selected for its robust infrastructure and near‑zero cost to implement. (See “Why YouTube” below.)

Targeted Audience

• Incident Commanders: (e.g., Type 1, Type 2, Local ICs)
• Aerial Assets: (e.g., Fixed-wing air tankers, Helicopters, Air Attack platforms)
• Ground Assets: (e.g., Hand crews, Engine crews, Dozer operators)
• EnRoute Assets: (e.g., Resources dispatched but not yet on scene)
• Safety Assets: (e.g., Safety Officers, Medical Units)

Project Owner & Director

Tom Olson, the Project Owner/Technical Director is a Navy Veteran, Firefighter, former Pilot and current FAA Part 107 Commercial UAS (Drone) Pilot with Lonestar Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance LLC, (see LoneStarISR.com), working in aerial wildlife management under a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Aerial Wildlife Manager’s Certificate and experienced deployments into Search and Rescue missions involving emergency SGI waivers to secure airspace to protect life and property.

Project Origins and Hypothesis:

The early deployment of thermal ISR drones in wildland fires has the potential to significantly enhance incident response by:

• Providing Incident Commanders with critical, real-time thermal intelligence through video feeds from altitudes between 100 and 400 feet Above Ground Level (AGL). (Note: Altitudes above 400 ft AGL are possible, as detailed in Note 1). This information will empower them to make more informed and timely decisions regarding resource allocation and tactical operations.
• Facilitating seamless information sharing and collaboration. Incident Commanders can share this real-time thermal video and data with the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG), Texas A&M Forest Service (TAMFS), and the National Forest Service (NFS) in accordance with National Incident Management System (NIMS) best practices. This enables remote guidance, mutual aid requests, and improved situational awareness for incoming resources, aiding their strategic planning and safe movement into the incident area.

Olson developed a hypothesis that during the progression of a wildland fire at some point, there would be a point to bring in aerial assets via Helicopter with a Bambi Bucket, Aerial Tanker or smaller fixed-wing aircraft like the Cessna 188 Ag Wagon to prevent a small fire from becoming a devastating fire. Through his research and conversations with pilots that conduct aerial firefighting, he saw a pathway to eventually integrate small unit tactics with these aircraft on the fireground directed by an incident commander on the ground or remotely with a state or federal forestry service.

Active Development

Currently, Olson, UAS Pilot, Center Point Firefighter and owner of Lone Star ISR, is actively developing and testing innovative methodologies. This includes the integration of real-time weather data overlays onto the thermal camera feed, accessible to the Incident Command System (ICS) through Geographic Information System (GIS) tools utilizing ESRI/ArcGIS Maps. This integration aims to provide a more comprehensive operational picture for enhanced decision-making.

Concurrently (February through March of 2026), Olson is pursuing the implementation of the Team Awareness Kit set of tools to enhance sharing the intelligence on the fireground.

This project is the first practical implementation of Olson’s tools that are currently under development.

Future Considerations

Looking ahead, Tom Olson of Lone Star ISR envisions a standardized program, developed in collaboration with NWCG and its partners, where a dedicated air firefighting asset works in tandem with a Lone Star ISR program pilot and incident commanders. This integrated approach has the potential to strategically “deconflict” airspace early in an incident, enabling more effective initial attack strategies. This could lead to significant reductions in property loss and potentially save lives. Further development of this concept, including defining best practices at the local level, warrants consideration by NWCG and relevant stakeholders.

Stages of Development

Completed

• Aerial Intelligence through Video Surveillance: Deployment of UAS platforms capable of streaming radiometric thermal imagery and visible‑spectrum video directly to incident commanders.
• Creation of a Web‑Based Platform: A centralized online location for responding agencies, unit‑level assets, and firefighters on the ground to access the same intelligence in real time.

In Progress

• Standardizing Tools for FAA 91.113 Waiver Requests: Developing a streamlined process for qualified pilots to file expedited requests as members of a recognized safety organization (in this case, the fire department) via the FAA System Operations Support Center (SOSC) in Washington, D.C.

Future Steps

• Effectiveness Analysis: Evaluating the performance of Stages 1–3 before advancing to Stage 4.
• Information Quality Enhancements: Improving data tools, software, and communications based on findings from the above evaluations.
• Phase 2 Start: Beginning development of tools integrating additional airborne firefighting assets into incident operations.

Who can participate?

At this time, participation as a pilot is limited to vetted members of fire departments located in Kerr County, Texas with valid Airmen’s Certificate as a Commercial or Private Pilot with UAS flight experience or a Current FAA Part 107 Commercial Drone Pilot’s Certificate to fly in the National Air Space (NAS).

For departments in adjoining counties that do not yet employ drones for wildland fire operations, a mutual‑aid request may be submitted through the Kerr Fire Communications Center (FireComm) to the Center Point Volunteer Fire Department.

Check back here for updates to this policy as the project develops.

Why YouTube

Everyone has Youtube on their telephones and readily accessible in the field or on the firegrounds. YouTube provides a stable, well‑tested infrastructure with an application installed on nearly every mobile device in the United States. Its extensive bandwidth capacity and resilient backend systems ensure consistent, buffer‑free video delivery from the upstream source. Additionally, YouTube provides this capability at no cost, making it an ideal platform for rapid deployment and wide accessibility.