Hummingbird Drones from Kamloops awarded for helping with wildfires

While the B.C. governmentplans to toughen up the laws prohibiting the operation of drones near wildfires, one company is being awarded for their operations of the unmanned aerial vehicles.

Robert Atwood andRichard Sullivan started Hummingbird Drones an aerial imaging, remote sensing and technology development company.

Last summer they partnered with the B.C. Wildfire Serviceto test out how drones could be used to fight wildfires.

As part of that endeavour, they flewdrones equipped with infrared scanning technology and gathered data that was thengiven to fire crews to help them focus their efforts.

On Wednesday,StartUp Canadabestowed the company withthe province'sYoung Entrepreneur of the Year awardfor the work they did with the B.C. Wildfire Service.

"It's been anunbelievableride, to behonest," said Atwood.

The former Thompson Rivers University students were enrolled in the natural resource science programand were working as wildlife firefighters when the idea came to them.

"We were on our way back from a fire deployment," said Atwood, "and we started talking about unmanned, aerial vehicles ...and the incredible application there was for them."

They turned theidea into a business, and now have a staff of eight.

"It's grown quite rapidly from just Richard and myself," said Atwood.

The business has ventured into a trial phase with Kamloops Search and Rescue, and the owners are hoping to partner up withother industries and wildfire agencies across the country.

To hear the full interview listen to the audio labelledKamloops company wins award for drones on CBC's Daybreak Kamloops.