Kelowna Fire Department test drives new drone tech to combat wildfires

CITY OF KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA
This Spring, the Kelowna Fire Department partnered with FireSwarm Solutions Inc. for an Integrated Training Exercise on Knox Mountain, showcasing advanced drone technology designed to support early wildfire suppression and prevention—particularly in hard-to-reach terrain, during nighttime or low-visibility conditions, or in situations that are unsafe for pilots and ground crews.

The training exercise drew interest from a wide range of public safety leaders and agencies — including representatives from Transport Canada, BC Wildfire Service, Kelowna RCMP, the City of Kelowna and fire chiefs from surrounding communities such as West Kelowna, Lake Country and Peachland.

While smaller drones were used during the demonstration, they represented the core capabilities of FireSwarm’s scalable, drone-agnostic wildfire defense platform.

During actual fire suppression operations, three or more coordinated FireSwarm drones, manufactured by ACC Innovation in Sweden, can each carry up to 400 kilograms each—collectively swarming to match the payload capacity of a medium-sized helicopter. This enables the delivery of water or equipment into remote, high-risk areas that are often inaccessible or unsafe for crewed aircraft.

Beyond extending operational reach, the technology is designed to improve firefighter safety by enabling rapid response in treacherous or high-risk locations before fires escalate. Kelowna Fire Chief

Dwight Seymour attended the session alongside members of the City’s fire prevention team and expressed enthusiasm for the potential impact of drone-based fire supression.

“Wildfires aren’t going away—and in many cases, they’re becoming more severe,” said Chief Seymour. “Leveraging emerging technologies like this is critical to reducing safety risks to our crews and the communities we protect.”

By combining next-generation drone systems with existing aerial and ground-based strategies, Kelowna is exploring a more resilient, proactive wildfire response model. It is hoped that this investment in new training and technology will provide Kelowna and surrounding areas with significant fire supression benefits when combined with existing aerial firefighting strategies.

“We’re proud to partner with forward-thinking leaders like Chief Seymour,” said Alex Deslauriers, CEO of FireSwarm. “Kelowna Fire’s openness to innovation and collaboration reflects what’s needed to fight the growing wildfire problem. FireSwarm is built to augment—not replace—existing response, bringing safe, smart, multi-purpose support to wildfire crews.”

Kelowna’s Fire Department is continually exploring new strategies and technology to battle wildfire and protect our residents and firefighting crews as well. To learn how you can do your part to help protect your home and community from the threat of wildfire, visit kelowna.ca/firesmart. For more information about autonomous drone systems for wildfire and forest management, visit fireswarmsolutions.com.

Read/Watch as reporter, Brittany Webster, captured the event HERE