Meet the Teams: Team FireSwarm

Canada has achieved worldwide renown for several things: Maple Syrup, Poutine (the beloved dish made from French fries, cheese curds, and gravy), Moose, Geese, Niagara Falls, and, of course, Ice Hockey.

Now, thanks to the ingenuity of Alex Deslauriers, Melanie Bitner, and David Thanh, “The Great White North,” as the country is popularly called, may soon be more well-known as the home of the world’s most innovative method to fight wildfires.

Indeed, Alex, Melanie, and David are the founders of FireSwarm Solutions, the company behind a groundbreaking automated aerial fire suppression platform designed to extinguish wildfires before they escalate into disasters.

The FireSwarm’s Smart Emergency Response Platform -- the SAR Wasp -- combines surveillance, multipurpose, ultra-heavy-lift Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) drones and a proprietary Swarm algorithm. That innovative SAR Mission Kit, consisting of radar, infrared cameras, advanced sensors, and other state-of-the-art technologies, are all part of the company’s entry into GoAERO, the global challenge to create an entirely new class of emergency response vehicles.

FireSwarm is one of several hundred teams developing flyers that will be more effective, efficient, and accessible than helicopters, small drones, and ambulances responding to natural and manmade disasters, extreme weather catastrophes, and medical emergencies when every second counts.

“We’re confident that our solution, which couples FireSwarm’s proprietary Swarm algorithm, along with the SAR Wasp, a derivative of the ACC Innovation ThundeWasp, will be a game changer in SAR (search and rescue) and humanitarian operations worldwide,” says David.

That confidence stems from the team’s long and vast experience in emergency management,

SAR missions, and various areas of the aviation industry. In fact, for three decades Alex

has been implementing complex Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to

manage military and commercial aircraft all over the world, from engineering configuration to in-service support, including logistics planning. He has also been working in emergency

management for the past 20 years, both as a First Responder on Whistler Mountain in British

Columbia and as a member of one of the busiest Canadian SAR groups in the country. 

David became a paramedic right out of high school, possesses 30 years in emergency

management, and has worked with BC Wildfire for about a decade. In addition, he has been deployed to Ukraine as part of the World Health Organization. 

Plus, “Alex and I have been hopping in and out of helicopters for years” as part of our

SAR volunteerism,” David relates.Melanie complements the technical team with close to 30 years in brand development, strategic marketing, and communications while also supporting fundraising and business development efforts. Her focus is on building FireSwarm into an enduring brand rooted in a deep commitment to enabling crews to respond to emergencies rapidly and precisely, saving lives and protecting what matters most.

Despite the breadth and scope of their expertise, it was a personal tragedy that illuminated their decision to leave their careers and focus on inventing a wildfire suppression solution and fill gaps in emergency response.. Indeed, Alex’s and Melanie’s own multigenerational family home was burned to the ground in a wildfire, leaving Melanie’s father homeless.

“Alex and Melanie approached me and noted that drones are already in use for some emergency response situations,” David recalls. “So why not use them specifically

to squash wildfires?”

Alex’s humanitarian instincts have been nurtured since he was a youngster. He has

been involved in aviation since his adolescence, first as an Air Cadet, then as an

aerospace engineer, certified flight instructor, and multi-engine airline rated pilot. But it

was his father, a well-respected physician, who taught him the life lesson that continues

to guide him today.

“He always said to me, ‘there is no greater calling than to be able to help someone in

Need’,” Alex explains, adding that to be able to “combine my passion for aviation with

my need to solve problems that have a direct impact on human health and safety is the

best way to honor my dad’s ethos.”

These humanitarian values aren’t unique to Alex within the team. That greater calling to

help someone in need has also influenced David’s life and work. A decade ago, he

watched in horror and with a sense of helplessness as someone drowned.

“If we were only able to use a drone to get him out of the water,” David says, his voice

trailing off in despair. “This will stick in my memory forever. What more could I have

done? Could we have gotten him a lifebuoy to hang onto? Then maybe we could have

dragged him out.”

But as with wildfires, there are times and conditions that require technological

advancements and machinery that didn’t exist until now. For example, David points out

that helicopters are not designed or equipped for SAR during wildfires. They have strict

limitations when it comes to carrying both cargo and people. They can’t operate in

small, tight areas, and they’re not always accessible or available.

As a result, the 15-plus members of the FireSwarm team have been in constant contact

with emergency managers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and other First

Responders.

“The sacrifice demanded of these individuals, and the need for new innovative solutions

is critical to our changing world,” David explains. “The lift capacity, safety of a jet engine-

powered machine, and ease of carrying the machine to and from an incident has never

been seen before in disaster areas or frankly on the modern battlefield either.”

After “searching the globe for the vehicle they needed to pair with FireSwarm’s platform,” David relates, they serendipitously learned of a company in Sweden called ACC Innovation, which had developed and manufactured the world’s largest Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) quadcopter. Alex flew to Sweden for a demonstration and came back to Canada with a partner company.

“Between their copter and our software and SAR mission kit, we knew we could achieve our goal,” declares Lois Connor, who spearheads special projects at FireSwarm. “We envisioned a swarm of ultra-heavy-lift emergency response flyers.”

To date, three of these pioneering vehicles have been built, the first of which serves as

the test platform in Sweden, the second is in military use, and the third is being

retrofitted for the GoAERO challenge.

Among the renovations FireSwarm is making are ones that would enable their fuel-

powered flyer to respond to a very specific rescue situation. In Squamish, BC lies the

second largest monolith in the world, the Stawamus Chief Mountain, often referred to

simply as The Chief. It is a granitic dome located adjacent to the town and towers about

2,300 feet above the waters of nearby Howe Sound.

“At least twice a year, a base jumper will plummet and get their parachute stuck in a

tree,” David notes. “A helicopter might take hours to respond and still might not be able

to maneuver in the terrain to get the jumper to freedom. Our long endurance drone can fly around the clock and  is a lot less risky to pilots and crew who can’t safely respond to such events at night.”

He explains that The FireSwarm SAR Wasp is designed for rapid deployment – under 15 minutes – is highway-ready, and towable. Notably, it will carry a very long, retractable tether able to pull and carry a person out of an extreme weather emergency like massive flooding.

“It’s like an all-purpose emergency drone-in-a-box,” he says.

This multifunctional ability is critically important to the FireSwarm team. Participating in GoAERO has inspired the members to develop a flyer to respond to multiple critical

problems using its innovative software and ultra-heavy-lift drone. And its commitment to

developing life-saving aerial assets has been enriched by GoAERO’s expert webinars

and other available resources.

“Our solution was born out of the ultimate emergency situation, a wildfire,” Lois says. “We’re still only touching upon our capabilities, though. We have a long way to go. But the confluence of aviation, emergency management, and humanitarianism is our aspiration. It’s where we need to be.”