CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — The Regional Fire Rescue Department in Casa Grande flies three different drones, all from DJI. Luis Martinez keeps them all running.
"Drones keep everyone safe," Martinez said. "Not just firefighters or police officers."
The RFRD uses drones for search and rescue, surveying scenes, and finding hotspots in fires, they're even trained to deliver life jackets to people caught in floods. Martinez said it's safer than sending firefighters in blind and the drones let firefighters see places they wouldn't normally be able to get to.
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Now, the department is in danger of losing those drones.
"Without drones, firefighters and police officers could lose their lives," Martinez said. "And the victims could lose their lives."
There's a wave of legislation specifically targeting drones made by the Chinese company DJI. Last month, Martinez was fighting an Arizona bill, SB1500, which would have outlawed DJI drones for public agencies.
A Senate Republican spokesperson told 12News that the bill is now dead.
But at the same time, the Countering CCCP Drones Act, sponsored by New York Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21), would effectively ban DJI drones nationwide.
The bill would prevent DJI drones from using part of the US communications infrastructure, which would effectively render them useless since they use radio frequencies to be controlled and send back video.
The issue, Stefanik has said, is over the possibility of a Chinese company attempting to spy on the United States using those drones.
Stefanik's office did not respond to 12News' request for comment.
"That's absolutely false," Martinez said. "DJI drones have a feature where we can just turn off the data. So nothing is leaving the drone."
"If a home is burning or someone's being rescued from a swift water rescue situation or a hiker up on the mountainside is getting a bottle of water and a radio to communicate with rescuers," Fire Chief Steven Kerber said, "I don't think the Chinese really care about that."
Florida recently passed a ban on DJI drones for public agencies as well. The state offered up $25 million to replace them. But state officials estimate agencies spent $200 million to buy them in the first place, eight times what they've been given for new drones.
There are American-made drones, but Valley first responders tell 12News they're not as good as the DJI drones, nor as cheap.
According to the state legislature's website, police and fire agencies from across the state signed on against the Arizona drone bill.
Stefanik's bill recently passed a House subcommittee on it's way to a full committee hearing.
Martinez hopes that's as far as it will go.
"Lives are going to be lost," Martinez said. "We're in public safety, we can't wait for that."
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