Tim Kennedy Presses Fire Chief About ‘Testing And Piloting Drones’ Prior To Natural Disasters

4/3/2025

During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-NY) questioned Kevin Fetterman, the Fire Division Chief at Orange County Fire Authority, about the testing of drones used in disaster response.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Chairman Strong. I now recognize the gentleman from New York,

00:05Ranking Member Kennedy, for his five minutes of questioning.

00:09Thank you, Chairman. And again, thanks to each of you for your testimony.

00:13Also, Dr. Ledbetter, thank you for your 30 years of service in the United States Marine Corps.

00:19Extremely impressive.

00:23So I represent a congressional district, Buffalo-Niagara region in western New York,

00:28and we have our own fair share of extreme weather, and oftentimes it's extreme winter weather.

00:36We average over 90 inches of snowfall each winter.

00:41A few years back, Christmas weekend, over 48 hours,

00:47there was over 50 inches of snow that dropped, along with blinding wind and low-zero temperatures.

00:56It was a blizzard, Winter Storm Elliot, breaking record numbers,

01:01and 47 people perished in my community, just to give you an idea of the impact of this storm.

01:08I mentioned earlier in my opening remarks how the local law enforcement used drone technology

01:15to find an individual that had been lost in a wooded area using infrared technology.

01:23And of course, Chief Fetterman, you're speaking to the impact of drone technology during wildfires,

01:30all of these natural disasters that are occurring with more ferociousness and certainly more often.

01:40Chief Fetterman, can you describe the importance of testing and piloting drones in emergencies

01:49that are caused by these extreme weather events?

01:53Yes, sir. Ranking Member Kennedy, thank you for the question.

01:56So certainly, the last time you want to put a drone up is the first time.

02:00So what we want to ensure is that our personnel, when they're using drones for life safety,

02:06is to ensure they have plenty of opportunities to be prepared and they're well-trained,

02:12and so we can leverage the technology, example, IR technology, in a remote rescue environment safely,

02:20professionally, and most importantly, quickly.

02:23You know, time is life in our business, and so having that preparation in blue sky days is most important.

02:32That way, our folks are ready and prepared to go to work when the time is right.

02:37Thank you. Are there ways the federal government can help with these test cases?

02:42So certainly, as I stated, the support of grants that can assist with the testing process and the training process,

02:55for example, recently we used UASI grants for an incident management team training

03:01that revolved around drone swarms and aircraft and what would occur.

03:07So our personnel, and that was an operational area-wide, county-wide program, test, and training,

03:16is making us better prepared to respond.

03:19Thank you. And Chief Federman, can you speak to how the federal agencies support fire response?

03:29I'm personally extremely concerned about the impacts on local first responders that the cuts to FEMA and NOAA will have.

03:40Can you speak to the agency's support?

03:44Sure. So certainly, there are impacts to the fire service.

03:49Specifically under FEMA, U.S. Fire Administration is an essential element for fire service leadership

03:57and the American Fire Service.

04:00As I stated, the National Fire Academy is the backbone of our leadership.

04:05It's analogous to the Navy War College.

04:08It is important to our fire service leadership to be educated.

04:12Certainly, the grants, I think as we mentioned, the funding opportunities to leverage,

04:17to get those tools into the hands of the local first responders that are responding on federal responsibility area land.

04:24And lastly, our fire department and many fire departments and police departments across this nation

04:31participate in the National Urban Search and Rescue System.

04:34And that is a system that I personally deployed within a handful of states and supported local first responders.

04:42The National Urban Search and Rescue System and its 28 national task forces is a critical element of FEMA,

04:50and it responds on every national disaster.

04:54For example, every hurricane, mud and debris flow, flooding, the Surfside building collapse in Florida.

05:03Those are elements and areas that those task forces respond and support all of the local entities.

05:09And I can't say enough about how well and what a cost-effective resource those are,

05:15because those aren't federal responders all the time.

05:17Those are hosted by the home agency, so it's a great program.

05:20I have more questions, but I'm out of time. I yield back. Thank you.

Tim Kennedy Presses Fire Chief About ‘Testing And Piloting Drones’ Prior To Natural Disasters

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