Northern Bruce Peninsula is going to consider applying for grant funding this week to buy drones for firefighting activities.
Council will be looking at submitting an application to Emergency Management Ontario’s Community Emergency Preparedness Grant (CEPG), which is available for emergency management projects and training for municipalities with a population of less than 100,000.
A report from Northern Bruce Peninsula Fire Chief Jack Burt says, “the CEPG will help ensure Ontarians are safe, practiced, and prepared before, during and after emergencies. The grant will provide funding to help communities purchase emergency supplies, equipment, and services for the delivery of emergency training, exercise planning, coordination, and education.”
The report says drones are a valuable tool for firefighting operations and emergency management as they are able to quickly identify fires or locate people in hard-to-reach areas, as well as assist in search and rescue.
“Further, the use of drones mitigates risk to first responders during technical rescues allowing for emergency scenes to be scouted in advance of deployment,” says the report. “The use of a drone will increase the fire department’s ability to locate fires before they become larger concerns.”
The drone can also be used by other municipal departments for various purposes like marketing, property and building inspections, surveying, and road and bridge inspections.
The grant application will include the cost of a large drone and two smaller drones, as well as the cost of training staff to use them, for a total of $40,000.
Council will consider this item during its meeting on Nov. 14 at 1 p.m.