The Perry Fire Department has a new piece of equipment that they feel will help assist in a variety of situations.

Assistant Fire Chief Brian Eiteman applied for a grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources last year to be used to purchase an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or drone.  Perry’s application was successful and the department now owns an Inspire I drone, complete with 4k and infrared cameras.

Eiteman says the primary purpose of the drone is to aid with search and rescue.

“Let’s say we had a person up in northern Iowa, a little kid gets stuck in a cornfield, couldn’t find him and they look for hours for the little kid.  I can actually set the drone up to fly a pattern over the top of the cornfield and, probably within about 10 or 15 minutes, locate the person in the cornfield.  Even if they’re running away from the camera, I can see them.”

The UAV came at a cost of $6,911, which includes Eiteman’s pilot license and registration to fly it.

We’ll hear more from him on today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program.