Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s the Oxford Fire Department’s new drone!

Well, not yet. But it’s coming.

Last week, the township board voted 6-0 to approve the purchase an unmanned aircraft system (popularly known as a drone) and accessories from the Grand Rapids-based Alpha Consulting Group for an amount not to exceed $14,957.

“I think this is a useful piece of equipment,” said township Supervisor Bill Dunn. “Times are changing and if it can save one life, ($15,000) is nothing.”

The price would have been $17,073, but the company is giving Oxford a $2,116 discount.

Anthony Graybill, a firefighter/paramedic with the department since 2008, gave a presentation on the advantages of having a commercial-grade drone equipped with both an optical camera and a thermal imaging camera.

When battling structure fires, the drone will be able to provide a bird’s-eye view of the scene, allowing for continuous 360-degree monitoring of operations on the ground and enabling fire personnel to inspect the roof and other areas that are difficult to access.

The drone’s thermal imaging camera will allow fire personnel to see through the smoke to help locate victims, keep track of where firefighters are while inside the structure and find the seat of the fire, which is the area where the main body of fire is located.

On the fire prevention side, having a drone will give the department an advantage when it comes to pre-fire planning, which is the process of gathering valuable information about a building before a fire or other disaster occurs in order to be better prepared to handle emergency situations.

The drone could be used to obtain photos of a building along with the property it sits on and surrounding properties; determine where rooftop HVAC units and other potential overhead dangers are located; and plan where to place trucks during a fire.

Graybill noted a drone can provide the department with the most up-to-date images, which is important in a growing community like Oxford.

“The township’s always changing and always getting new buildings,” he said.

According to Graybill, the drone will be invaluable when it comes to locating vehicles that are off the roadway, hidden from view; finding missing adults and children; locating lost hikers; and finding victims in the water. Places that would normally take “hours (and) hours to cover on foot” can be examined “in just a few minutes from the air,” he explained.

Being able to review aerial footage of everything from training exercises to actual incidents in the field will help firefighters improve their performance by seeing what they did right and what can be improved, Graybill noted.

The drone would also be used for assessing storm damage, evaluating road conditions and coordinating resources during natural disasters.

Alpha Consulting Group will be training six members of the fire department on how to use the drone, so they can fly it and teach others how to use it.

“Those six people will be able to train anybody on the department,” Graybill said.

Dunn noted he wants to make sure the department puts policies and procedures in place to ensure “people don’t use (the drone) as a toy to kill time.”

Graybill assured policies and procedures will be established and adhered to in addition to regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration.