Macau (MNA) – Fire Services Bureau (CB) chief, Leong Iok Sam announced that the fire bureau is looking into purchasing drones in order to help with early detection of emergency situations, including fires.
Drones have been used for various firefighting operations internationally, from early monitoring of emergencies, search and rescue operations, and for capturing the post-event operations.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) forecasts that China is a clear market leader in drones, with one Chinese company, namely Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) holding over 70 per cent of the world market share, although the complex regulatory framework for drones to operate within the mainland can prove to be a hurdle.
Drones are legally permitted to operate in Macau under Article 6 of Law No. 233/95/M, with special permissions required for operators who wish to fly within 1 kilometre of the heliport at the Hong Kong and Macau ferry terminals, the Macau International Airport (MIA) and the hangar on Coloane island.
In China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) believes the country’s drone market will grow by RMB180 billion (US$26.6 billion) by 2025 as part of the ‘Made in China 2025’ campaign to encourage domestic manufacturing.
In 2018, CB handled 47,237 emergency cases, down, 1.27 per cent from 2017.
There were 1,116 fires in 2018, an increase of 82 cases, or 8 per cent up year-on-year, with a majority of cases caused by personal negligence.
However, there has been a lack of incidents of large fires recorded in Macau, with many cases being considered minor.
Cases involving human negligence rose 43.1 per cent year-on-year, a total of 481 cases, with certain cases caused by using fireworks or burning incense.
Rescue cases, involving incidents such as people being trapped, traffic accidents and falls, decreased by 2.48 per cent year-on-year to 1,493.
