Fire Spyder will be at the 9th Int. High Rise Fire Safety Conf USA April 7-9th '25
Proof of Concept
Fire Spyder™ Proof of Concept
introduction
In January 2025, the world's first test of the Fire Spyder™ system was successfully conducted with the support of the Ho Chi Minh Fire Academy. The primary objective was to demonstrate that two drones could lift work wires above the fire location and hand them over to firefighters, who would then secure them to (pre/ad hoc) installed anchors.
With this connection established, the second objective was to validate that the elevated monitor plate—equipped with a nozzle and delivering an operational discharge stream—could be precisely controlled in all directions while remaining stable.
Both objectives were undeniably achieved, with the test independently witnessed and verified by Bureau Veritas.
Technical Equipment
- High-Rise Tower: 5-story, 76 ft (23m) steel construction
- Fire Engine: Rosenbauer N30 (built 2007)
- Winches: 440 lbs capacity / 65 ft/min (200 kg / 20 m/min) with 6mm Dyneema rope
- Monitor Plate: 26" (65 cm) triangular aluminum with welded male/female coupling
- Drone: DJI
- Fire Hose: 1.5" diameter
- Smooth Bore Nozzle: 19mm
- Hammer Drill: Milwaukee 1/2" battery-operated
- Mechanical Anchors: 10mm steel through-bolt anchors, min. tension load of 4.29 kN (1,000 lbs) in cracked concrete
- Chain: 5mm steel, WLL 344 kg (0.2" / 758 lbs)
observed timings
Fire crew from vehicle exit to anchor floor (@ 21m height):
1m20sec
Handshake with drone:
<10sec
Connecting anchor with pulley:
<10sec
Winching monitor plate +hose + hose pack to staging floor:
40 sec
Winching from staging floor to fire floor:
35sec
Total time elapsed between crew exit vehicle and water on fire:
3m 05sec.
Note/disclaimer:
- drones with rope arrive at anchor floor BEFORE fire crew reaches this floor
- installation time of anchors not included here: this would incur another 49 sec.
- winch specification limited operation to 20 m/min lifting speed. With faster winches (e.g. 40m/min) total time would be reduced to 2m 28 sec.
Result
results
As verified by Bureau Veritas the test was completed successful.
IMages of equipment used during the Proof of Concept
High Rise Tower
High Rise Tower
High Rise Tower
Fire Engine
High Rise Tower
High Rise Tower
Winches
High Rise Tower
Drones + stand
Drones + stand
Milwaukee drill
Drones + stand
Milwaukee drill
Milwaukee drill
Milwaukee drill
Monitor Plate
Milwaukee drill
Milwaukee drill
Video PROOF OF CONCEPT
Fire Spyder™ in Action – First Ever Test
Watch aerial footage capturing the debut operation of Fire Spyder™. The monitor plate, positioned at approximately 12 meters height, delivers a powerful, stable water stream with a discharge pressure of 5 bars, showcasing its precision and effectiveness in high-rise firefighting.