By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The Great Bend Fire Department has been utilizing drone technology for approximately two years for assistance in emergency response and assessing incidents, and to help with search and rescue efforts. In 2025, the Kansas Legislature passed a bill that prohibits governmental agencies from purchasing drones, their parts, or their services from designated countries of concern. As GBFD can no longer update its drone, Fire Chief Brent Smith approached the city council Monday night for approval of a new drone.
“We’ve decided on a Skydio X10,” Smith said. “It’s a very capable drone for what we want to do. It actually adds some capabilities for what we do. It’s capable of dropping a water bottle, carrying a life jacket, stuff like that.”
The Skydio, with a price tag of $33,684.65, is designed to operate in stronger winds than the fire department’s current drone, and Smith believes it could provide more assistance to a victim on the ground than the current drone. The drone could be used to communicate with a victim faster than personnel can arrive in some instances, and the new model could be fitted with a thermal camera. The fire department has already found multiple uses for their drone, and the possibilities are only growing with an additional pilot.
“We’ve used it on several house fires, wildland fires are a big deal,” Smith said. “We’ve assisted (the Great Bend Police Department) a couple of times. It allows them to not have to put someone on their drone, so we can fly their scene and allow their people to do what they need to do.”
Great Bend Fire has used its drone to assist with a pair of wildfires in Pawnee County, and also helped locate two missing rafters on the river in Pawnee County. The fire department also used its drone to help the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office look for a missing child in a cornfield.