This past Monday evening saw a tragic event when the beloved Notre Dame Cathedral in Pairs caught fire during a refurbishment effort that saw some of the famed structure getting destroyed in the process. It understandably caught the attention of people around the world as many millions have travelled to Paris to visit the historical structure and have a deep connection to the building. One that brings with it a lot of emotions knowing that all this history could be coming to an end.
And while there is still a lot of work that is needed to now rebuild and restore the chapel back to its former glory, the Parisian firefighters were able to do a remarkable job in restricting the damage under the circumstances, with many of the important parts still in place, if only now needing a bit of a touch-up.
One of the things that helped make the fighting of the fire to this historic symbol a little easier though was actually a symbol of modern technological innovation. Drones. While drones are normally off limit to much of Paris, the firefighters made use of DJI Mavic Pro and Matrice M210 drones to track the progression of the Notre Dame fire and to find the best positions to aim fire hoses. While the drones couldn’t help in saving the legendary spire or the roof and windows which were all ravaged in the fire, they did play an important part in bringing the fire under control and preventing further damage, something was confirmed to the local news (and reported on by The Verge).
While the firefighters didn’t have access to drones initially themselves, they joined forces with the Parisian Police Drone Unit who received the clearance to fly the drones into the area and survey the fire and provide the required input to the firefighters to successfully combat the flames.
This whole episode shows the benefit that drone technology has in events such as this and how when used correctly, they can have a remarkable impact in many situations. While we can often focus on the use of drones for package delivery or fear their privacy invasion, they can be used to save live and indeed structures too. Who knows, in the future, we could easily see AI drones be the firefighters of the future.
Last Updated: April 17, 2019
Pariah
April 17, 2019 at 14:55
Notre Dame is an anagram of Drone Team, so makes sense.
Magoo
April 18, 2019 at 10:57
Nice.
Original Heretic
April 17, 2019 at 15:05
Seems that the fire revealed a secret catacomb entrance that has everyone quite excited.
A few have ventured in and have reported strange creatures, but also lots of treasure. An old blacksmith was there. Wanted to know what he could do for them.
And there’s also an old scholar who keeps telling them to stay a while and listen.
Pariah
April 17, 2019 at 15:05
Comment of the week. XD
Admiral Chief Hype Train
April 17, 2019 at 15:34
Survives French Revolution
Survives WW1
Survives WW2
Survives Hippies and Cold War
Taken down by contractors
HairyEwok
April 17, 2019 at 16:11
I like the idea that there’s talks of using Assassins Creed: Unity’s Notre Dame scaled replica to rebuild and remake the interior to an almost original state. Never thought I’d say it but thanks Ubisoft. 2 Years of scanning and rendering the Notre Dame is finally going to pay off.