WA's spotter planes eyes in the sky
Despite satellites in space and advances in remote sensing technology, spotting early signs of a bushfire still relies on having eyes in the sky. More than fifty years since the first fire spotter planes started flying patrols over WA's forests a squadron of young pilots is carrying on the tradition, spending hours aloft in their tiny planes.
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00:00 Bronwyn Prinslow loves looking for trouble.
00:05 From her tiny plane above the South West, she's on the lookout for the first signs
00:11 of a bushfire to raise the alarm with other fire spotters on the ground.
00:16 Because while we have satellites that have amazing cameras, there's always a delay with
00:20 them and there's nothing better than the human eye between ourselves and the fire towers
00:25 that are spread throughout the South West as well.
00:29 Through the fire season, she's one of 16 Parks and Wildlife pilots in 10 planes who spend
00:35 hours patrolling the southern forests from Bunbury to Albany.
00:39 Now the service flies US-made Scout aircraft designed to fly low and slow.
00:46 They've got brilliant visibility between the wide windscreen and the big windows.
00:50 We can see very far and very wide.
00:53 There's nothing that really obstructs our view inside.
00:56 The pilots talk to fire spotters in 13 towers, forming a network of observers covering thousands
01:03 of kilometres.
01:04 So when I was 11, I was watching the helitacks fill up at a lake by my house in Balladura
01:10 and I just turned to mum and went, "I'm going to do that."
01:14 I think it was about 2014 I found out about the Parks and Wildlife fire spotting job and
01:17 just made it my goal from then on.
01:19 It's real rewarding knowing you've helped find a fire early and get it dealt with before
01:24 it becomes anything major.
01:27 Sometimes the old way is still the best way.
01:30 [silence]