DataWing is on The Scene of the Thomas Fire

The Thomas Fire, which is engulfing much of Southern California, is on track to becoming the second largest fire in state history. With a fire of this magnitude it’s important that data is collected to track movement and assess damages. The DataWing team was on standby and ready to respond once we received the green light.

Within four hours of launch request, our flight crew was activated and had mobilized the Cessna 182. The crew navigated through adverse weather conditions from San Antonio to Ventura, California. After careful coordination with Air Traffic Control, DataWing’s Cessna orbited high above the Temporary Flight Restriction in the area and captured over 60,500 acres of imagery, a big chunk of the of 272,000 acres affected as of Tuesday night.

The raw data was transferred back to DataWing’s home office in San Antonio overnight and our data engineers immediately went to work turning the raw images into geo-referenced orthomosaics while analysts turned raw photos into meaningful intel for the client. Within 48 hours of the original launch request, the DataWing team had provided actionable results to our client. The work of DataWing’s pilots, engineers, and image analysts facilitated rapid claim response for the individuals affected by the ongoing California wildfires.