Drones

Ref: FOI/22087 

RE: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST    

West Midlands Fire Service has now completed its search for the information requested on 11^th August 2022 

Please find below a summary of our findings. 

Request. 

How is drone technology being used within this fire service? 

Reply 

To provide enhanced situational awareness to incident commanders and operational Incident Command teams, using high quality photography, video and thermal imagery. This supports enhanced operational decision making by Incident Commanders to improve risk identification and manage operational incidents more safely and effectively. This increases firefighter, public and environmental safety.

Request 

How many drones does this fire service have? 

Reply 

6 X DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced (M2EA), 1 X DJI Matrice 300, 6 X DJI Mini 2  

Request 

Which drones are you using? 

Reply 

As above 

Request 

How many missions have you run with drones this year? 

Reply 

118 to date (16/08/2022) 

Request 

Who oversees your drone operations? 

Reply 

West Midlands Fire Service does not disclose individual contact details as under Section 40(20) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  There is a direct email address for suppliers making sales enquires email: 

procurement.enquires@wmfs.net or contact@wmfs.net.    

Furthermore, guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office is as follows: 

The presumption is in favour of protecting privacy, so the release of personal information will only be fair if there is a genuine reason to disclose. This involves a three-stage test. A public authority will generally have to satisfy itself that:  

There is a legitimate interest can be met, or fully met, by the disclosure of information which identifies individuals (i.e the disclosure is necessary to that purpose); and, the disclosure would not involve unwarranted detriment to individual’s privacy or others rights and legitimate interests. 

If you have any queries about this freedom of information request, please contact us.  Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications. 

For service complaints, issues or comments regarding this request please contact The Public Relations Department, West Midlands Fire Service, 99 Vauxhall Road, Birmingham, B7 4HW 

Further information concerning Freedom of Information requests can be found on the Information Commissioner website at either the following link: https://ico.org.uk/ or at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF.