Tavares council accepts FDLE grant to buy drone for fire operations

The Tavares City Council on Sept. 3 approved a resolution authorizing acceptance of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement grant of up to $25,000 to purchase an unmanned aerial system for the Tavares Fire Department.

The grant, described in Resolution 2025-14, will pay for a UAS (commonly called a drone) to support structure fire response with aerial thermal imaging, search-and-rescue operations, hazardous-materials monitoring, post-incident analysis and disaster assessment, Fire Chief Richard Keith told the council. "This is not a toy," Keith said. "You have to be licensed how to operate this."

The nut of the staff presentation was that the drone will bolster situational awareness without adding a matching cost to the city; staff said there is no local match required for the FDLE award. Chief Keith identified FAA Part 107 remote pilot certification as the training baseline and said the department expects to train a small cadre of operators rather than staff every shift with a certified pilot. "Were looking at about $3,000 just on the fire department side to fund that training," Keith said, referencing an estimated top-end cost of about $1,000 per person for full licensing for three operators. He said that training costs are budgeted in the upcoming fiscal year.

Council members noted cross-departmental benefits if police or other city departments need aerial footage or thermal imaging. "This is a resource that's going to be available to other departments as well," Keith said. The council moved and seconded approval of the resolution; mayoral voice vote was recorded as "ayes have it." No member recorded an objection during the meeting.

Ending: Staff said the grant acceptance will allow the city to procure a system built to public-safety specifications and that procurement and training plans will follow under department procedures. The fire chief and division chief Mike Willis were available to answer follow-up questions, and staff indicated training and operations details will be reflected in department policy and the upcoming budget.