A helicopter armed with cameras that can track bushfires from several kilometres away and can stream vision to mobile phones is the new weapon against bushfires this summer.
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Firebird 100, leased to the ACT this bushfire season, will be able to monitor fires using infrared cameras that can zoom in to the fire front from more than 10 kilometres away.
Footage from the cameras can be live-streamed to firefighters on the ground and to the ACT Emergency Services Agency headquarters in Fairbairn.
The helicopter is the third of its type in Australia. The technology has also been used in Sydney and Melbourne.
ACT Rural Fire Service chief officer Joe Murphy said the new technology would be a game changer.
"We've always have air operations to provide intelligence, but this will be able to provide live streaming and we've enhanced our capabilities to get vision back to our decision makers," Mr Murphy said.
"Commanders on the ground will be able to get an overhead view to be able to get a better view of the fire and make better decisions."
ACT Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman said it was likely the new technology would eventually be leased out for longer or purchased for permanent use as the bushfire threat increased.
"We probably will have to look at how we address bushfire seasons as climate change takes effect in areas," he said.
"We've seen the extent of this with the bushfire season starting earlier."
Mr Gentleman said plans had been under way for some time to get the new firefighting technology after success in other states, long before the damaging Pierces Creek fire in November.
"It's taken some time to implement the new technology, but we have it now, and we're able to lease it per hour of operation, so it's an effective and economic way to do so."
Mr Murphy said the technology on board Firebird 100 would make firefighting efforts easier.
"We've needed this capability for a while and now's the time to get on board," he said.
"[The Pierces Creek fire] was in dense and thick shrubbery and it was quite remote to get crews in and out."
Pilot Morgan Ford said the new aircraft would make firefighting efforts safer for those in the sky.
"In the past to achieve the same aim we would have to fly really low," Mr Ford said.
"If conditions got really big we would normally have to come back but now we can sit off at a safe distance and provide information to the ground crew."
The Firebird and a larger waterbombing helicopter have been leased out to the ACT from the national grid, and will also be used for firefighting efforts over the border if needed.
