DEVOLA, Ohio (WTAP) -Tom Herman initially started MOV Drone Workz with a focus on marketing and advertising. After a marketing opportunity with the Reno Volunteer Fire Department, Herman decided to shift gears and work more with them.
“Once I got into the thermal drones a couple of seasons ago, it really changed everything because they were able to really use this asset with the local fire departments,” Herman said. “I have fire ground background experience and I ended up joining back home with Reno to be what they called a pilot in command for their flight program.”
Since then, the MOV Drone Workz has been helping assist the Reno Volunteer Fire Department and the Devola Volunteer Fire Company.
Herman assists them with a range of operations from search and rescue and brush fires to drone training and other fire department needs in case of emergencies.
“We train at least once a month with them,” said Jesse Lehman with the Devola Volunteer Fire Company. “We’ve been called to the scene for one brush fire so far, and we were able to do a mapping of the area and provide accurate dimensional analysis as to how much of the property was damaged. We were able to calculate the exact area of the property that way for reporting purposes they were able to submit the right acreage to the ODNR to get reimbursed,”
Herman also uses the drones in his free time to help residents find their lost dogs.
Sarah Rollison, a volunteer, helps trap dogs with the assistance of MOV Drone Workz.
“We just try to find like a safe location to keep them in the area so that the live trap will work,” Rollison said. “If they are scared and in-flight mode, that’s when we use the traps and we use the drone to keep an eye on them.”
On April 12, Sara Schad lost her dog, Annie when she was away from the house.
After assistance from MOV Drone Workz, Annie, also known as “Tater-tot”, was found safe.
“I checked the cameras and she was gone immediately,” Schad said. “All of the neighbors and my adult children came out to search for her. She spent the night out in the woods, Sarah contacted the MOV drones and they went out and searched for her. They located her. We knew where to set the trap and after 60 hours, she was trapped and she is now home.”
Jesse says he is trying to get other fire stations in Washington County on board with drone operations.
“The only thing they’re waiting for is our equipment to show up,” Jesse said. “If we can have pilots on scene, we can have spotters on scene, ground crew members there. We already have an idea of where we need to be. They already – they can already have a plan in place. As soon as the equipment shows up, they can put the drone in the air and they’re straight to work. We’re trying to recruit throughout the county for any department to join the team.”
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