For our Nature's Fury natural disasters project we explored how to reduce the deaths and injuries caused by fires after earthquakes. We came to this problem after doing some research on the internet. We were surprised to find how many people killed in earthquakes are killed by fires.
Most fires are started by ruptured gas mains or by sparks from electrical wires. Some fires can also start when cooking or heating equipment malfunction after an earthquake. Roads may be blocked by rubble making it hard for rescue and fire services to get to the incident. It may be difficult to locate people trapped in buildings and to prioritize where the greatest need is.
We researched our project using various sources, such as Wikipedia, Youtube, the USAR website, and the Cambridge IGCSE geography textbook.
The community we researched for the project was San Francisco. The San Francisco earthquake in 1906 left over 225,000 of the city's 400,000 inhabitants homeless. Fires after the earthquake destroyed 28,000 buildings which cost over 90 million US dollars to repair in the first 19 months after the earthquake. Fires burned for three days and three nights; some were up to 2,700°F. The damage and casualties caused by the fires were worse than the earthquake itself.
To further research our project we spoke to Lee Giffard, Watch Manager from the Urban Search And Rescue (USAR), based in Hampshire, UK. USAR are a specialist rescue service that provide a range of equipment and trained people for international response to emergency events. USAR locate and help remove victims who are trapped in confined spaces. The victims may be trapped as a result of various emergency incidents, including transport accidents, collapsed mines and natural disasters.
Lee Giffard is an experienced fire fighter and has worked in earthquake zones. We explained our project to Lee. Our problem was reducing the casualties caused by fires after earthquakes. Our solution was a flying drone that could search for and put out fires.
There are already ways of watching fires from the air, like using satellites, but they don't give enough localised or detailed information. If you use a full-sized, piloted helicopter to survey fires after earthquakes there is a risk to the pilot. The few drones that exist are hard to control and can't fly in windy conditions or are exclusive to the military. Few designs have the ability to map fires and they cannot carry supplies. Our design aims to tackle both of these issues.
Lee helped us refine our project. The most useful feature of a drone to the emergency services would be if the drone could map the area on fire during the earthquake and any damage after the earthquake. This would help direct the emergency services to where there is the highest possibility of casualties. Another useful feature would be delivering supplies such as water to fire and emergency crews. Water mains may be ruptured and therefore fire crews may not have enough water to put out fires.
As well as sharing our idea with Lee Giffard from Urban Search and Rescue, we presented our project to a group of children and parents at the Spotlight centre in Popley, Basingstoke. They gave us feedback on our project and our presentation, which we then used to improve our ideas.
Our project solution is a drone that can be deployed and left to search, report and map fires, and survey the damage caused by an earthquake. The drone can also carry supplies to emergency crews on the ground. Lee said that if these drones could be put into production he would like to be able to use it.
Most fires are started by ruptured gas mains or by sparks from electrical wires. Some fires can also start when cooking or heating equipment malfunction after an earthquake. Roads may be blocked by rubble making it hard for rescue and fire services to get to the incident. It may be difficult to locate people trapped in buildings and to prioritize where the greatest need is.
We researched our project using various sources, such as Wikipedia, Youtube, the USAR website, and the Cambridge IGCSE geography textbook.
The community we researched for the project was San Francisco. The San Francisco earthquake in 1906 left over 225,000 of the city's 400,000 inhabitants homeless. Fires after the earthquake destroyed 28,000 buildings which cost over 90 million US dollars to repair in the first 19 months after the earthquake. Fires burned for three days and three nights; some were up to 2,700°F. The damage and casualties caused by the fires were worse than the earthquake itself.
To further research our project we spoke to Lee Giffard, Watch Manager from the Urban Search And Rescue (USAR), based in Hampshire, UK. USAR are a specialist rescue service that provide a range of equipment and trained people for international response to emergency events. USAR locate and help remove victims who are trapped in confined spaces. The victims may be trapped as a result of various emergency incidents, including transport accidents, collapsed mines and natural disasters.
Lee Giffard is an experienced fire fighter and has worked in earthquake zones. We explained our project to Lee. Our problem was reducing the casualties caused by fires after earthquakes. Our solution was a flying drone that could search for and put out fires.
There are already ways of watching fires from the air, like using satellites, but they don't give enough localised or detailed information. If you use a full-sized, piloted helicopter to survey fires after earthquakes there is a risk to the pilot. The few drones that exist are hard to control and can't fly in windy conditions or are exclusive to the military. Few designs have the ability to map fires and they cannot carry supplies. Our design aims to tackle both of these issues.
Lee helped us refine our project. The most useful feature of a drone to the emergency services would be if the drone could map the area on fire during the earthquake and any damage after the earthquake. This would help direct the emergency services to where there is the highest possibility of casualties. Another useful feature would be delivering supplies such as water to fire and emergency crews. Water mains may be ruptured and therefore fire crews may not have enough water to put out fires.
As well as sharing our idea with Lee Giffard from Urban Search and Rescue, we presented our project to a group of children and parents at the Spotlight centre in Popley, Basingstoke. They gave us feedback on our project and our presentation, which we then used to improve our ideas.
Our project solution is a drone that can be deployed and left to search, report and map fires, and survey the damage caused by an earthquake. The drone can also carry supplies to emergency crews on the ground. Lee said that if these drones could be put into production he would like to be able to use it.