Fire Traffic Area Integration with the Orange County Fire Authority HLCO

Air to air image by Ted Carlson.

Autonomy meets the Fire Traffic Area.

During our autonomous wildfire suppression demos in California, we showed the first known instance of an autonomous helicopter and a human-piloted tactical helicopter operating together in the same simulated fire traffic area. This was all coordinated using the same voice radio communication standards air crews use across the U.S.

Rain and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, demonstrated and tested autonomous wildfire suppression techniques on both propane and burning brush piles using Rain’s wildfire suppression planning software layered with Sikorsky’s optionally piloted MATRIX flight autonomy system. For the exercise, the Orange County Fire Authority HLCO (an air tactical group supervisor) used a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter to supervise a wildfire scenario over live fire and a Wildfire Water Solutions dip site.

It may not seem like a big deal—but that’s the point. The system worked because we used the same aerial coordination playbook that wildland firefighters have used for decades.

As Fred Burris, the Orange County Fire Authority Helicopter Coordinator who performed the operation, said:

“It didn’t feel historic because we just applied the system we already have to make things work.”

But it was a historic moment—for firefighting and for aviation, and it’s being built to help firefighters make sure to keep small fires small.