Surrey Fire and Rescue Service buys drones to help with emergencies

A fire and rescue service has bought new drones to help in life-threatening incidents.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service said it spent £55,000 on five drones "to keep communities safe".

Equipped with the ability to live stream footage directly to the control centre, they will fly for longer than existing drones and in more extreme weather.

The service said drones were an "essential tool in fire safety".

The technology has been used since 2018 during emergencies, such as flooding, hazmat incidents, wildfires and missing persons investigations.

Dave Nolan, from Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Drones play a pivotal part in how we manage incidents, with specialist capabilities to save lives, locate casualties quickly, and reduce risks to our crews too.

"The new drones will provide incident commanders with the information they need to make rapid and informed decisions to reduce fire risks and other emergencies like never before."

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