Ventura County: a thermal observation becomes a ground task

What DJI reported

DJI’s July 18, 2025 account describes Ventura County firefighters using Matrice 4T for post-fire mop-up. The workflow combined visual and thermal capture with georeferenced Nova Maps outputs to help crews follow up on residual heat.

The account concerns a specific department’s workflow. For another team, its useful starting point is the relationship between aerial observation and ground follow-up, which can be rehearsed in a local exercise.

Why the handoff matters

The useful unit of work is a located observation that a ground crew can investigate. A thermal view is most useful when it carries enough visual and location context for someone away from the aircraft display to act on it.

For a department designing its own procedure, make the handoff fields explicit: observation time, location, image reference, uncertainty and the team assigned to follow up. Record the acknowledgment and result so the incident record distinguishes an open observation from a completed task.

A procedure to test locally

• Assign one defined post-fire area and a receiving ground team.
• Create one observation with thermal, visual and location context.
• Have the receiving crew locate it without coaching from the pilot.
• Record the result and unresolved areas in the incident closeout.

Where this case helps a purchase decision

The case is relevant to an integrated portable thermal kit such as Matrice 4T. It is also a useful reminder to review the information path around the aircraft. Software and the ground-team procedure are separate requirements.

Use the original story and video to study the example, then define a local exercise with your incident team. Preserve the distinction between what the source reported and the procedure your department chooses to implement.

Watch the original example