How Patagonia Firefighters Use The DJI Matrice 4T To Battle Wildfires

Between the 2025 and 2026 fire seasons, wildfires in Argentine Patagonia destroyed approximately 40,000 hectares of native forest, with on-screen text in DJI's latest case study reporting that 95% of those fires were started by humans — either through negligence or intent. In a new DJI Enterprise video, the Chubut Provincial Fire Management Service walks through how the DJI Matrice 4T has become a core part of how its brigades respond.

The case study, filmed at the Las Golondrinas Fire Substation in the municipality of Lago Puelo, is one of the clearest demonstrations to date of how a single thermal drone reshapes the day-to-day workflow of a wildland firefighting team.

The Operational Reality In Patagonia

Patagonia's fire problem is shaped by two compounding factors. The native forest is dense and remote, with access roads that are often unmade and seasonal. And the wildland-urban interface is sharp: a fire that starts in a house can run into the forest within minutes, and a forest fire can return to homes just as quickly.

As Adrián Llanfulen, Chief of Operations at the Chubut Provincial Fire Management Service, puts it in the video:

"Each service station is tasked with providing an immediate response to fire alarms. Often, fires start because a house catches fire and spreads to the forest, or the fire originates in the forest and spreads to homes. That is why it is important to respond immediately so that the damage caused by a fire is not so extensive."

Speed of response is the brigade's single biggest lever. Before the Matrice 4T, that lever was constrained by what crews could see from the ground.

Life Before The DJI Matrice 4T

Wildland firefighter Francisco Bachman, part of the technical team for the northern region at Las Golondrinas, describes the pre-drone reality:

"Before drones were introduced as a work tool, access to fire sites was a bit slower. We had to find access routes, check the area, all from the ground — on foot or in vehicles. That just increased our response time."

For brigades operating in the Andean foothills, every minute spent identifying a fireline from a fire truck cab is a minute the fire is running unchecked. Ground-based reconnaissance is also dangerous: crews end up walking into terrain they can't see beyond, in conditions where the wind can shift the fire's behaviour in seconds.

How The Matrice 4T Changes The Workflow

The Matrice 4T is a compact thermal-equipped drone built for enterprise public safety, inspection and emergency response. In the Patagonia case study, it's used at multiple stages of the incident lifecycle:

Faster Initial Response

As crews approach the fire site, the Matrice 4T is launched ahead of them. As Francisco Bachman explains, "Thanks to the introduction of the Matrice 4T drone, response times are much shorter. We can now identify access routes as we approach the fire sites — and it also allows us to detect secondary hotspots more quickly so we can control them with other crews."

Two operational benefits stack on top of each other. Crews arrive with a live aerial picture of access points, fire spread and exposure to homes — and they can dispatch additional dotaciones (crews) to secondary hotspots before those hotspots become a second fire.

Precise Thermal Hotspot Detection

The Matrice 4T's thermal camera turns every overflight into a heat map. The brigade uses it to pinpoint the precise location of hotspots — the smouldering pockets that, if left, will reignite the fire after the visible flames are out.

Luis Fernandez, also Chief of Operations at the Chubut Provincial Fire Management Service, explains the post-control deployment:

"Once we detect the fire and manage to bring the incident under control, we deploy the drone, which is useful to us because it has a thermal camera that helps us detect hot spots that may remain during the ash watch or in the pre-extinguishment phase of the fire that we are responding to."

Ash watch is the unsung phase of any wildland fire — the long hours after the visible fire is suppressed, when reignition is the single biggest risk. A thermal drone running structured passes over the burn perimeter cuts that watch from hours of foot patrol to a few coordinated flights.

Night-Time Search And Rescue

The same drone also pulls double duty in search and rescue. Bachman describes the night vision capability:

"The drone also has a night vision camera that actually makes it easier for us to search for people. This allows us to reach the location where people are more quickly, facilitating access for ground teams sent to rescue them."

For brigades operating in densely forested terrain after dark, the difference between locating a stranded resident in 20 minutes versus 90 minutes is the difference between a rescue and a recovery.

Real-Time Information Reshapes Decision Making

Beyond the individual workflows, the Matrice 4T changes how the brigade plans. Brenda Schreiner of HDT NewForce, the DJI dealer that supported the deployment, frames it like this:

"Thanks to the addition of the Matrice 4T, the brigade can react to emergencies and also anticipate them by having real-time information."

That anticipation is the under-reported productivity story. With live aerial intelligence streaming back to the incident commander, decisions about where to position crews, where to draw firebreaks and when to evacuate residents move from reactive to proactive.

Why This Case Study Matters For UK Fire And Rescue

The Patagonia deployment is a long way from a UK fire and rescue service, but the operational pattern translates directly. UK fire services are already using thermal drones for moorland fires, wildfire response, urban search and rescue, and post-incident hotspot management. The Matrice 4T is being adopted in similar roles across British public safety teams — for the same reasons highlighted in the Chubut video.

The case study also reinforces a point that's easy to lose in the spec sheet: the value of an enterprise thermal drone is not in any one feature. It's in the way thermal, night vision, real-time video and rapid deployment combine to compress every phase of the incident — from first alarm through ash watch.

FAQs

What DJI drone does the Chubut Provincial Fire Management Service use?

The case study features the DJI Matrice 4T thermal drone, deployed at the Las Golondrinas Fire Substation in Chubut, Argentine Patagonia.

What thermal capabilities does the Matrice 4T offer firefighters?

The Matrice 4T's thermal imager is used by the brigade to pinpoint hotspots during ash watch and pre-extinguishment phases, helping prevent reignition. Combined with the drone's night vision camera, it also supports search and rescue operations after dark.

How has the drone changed response times?

According to the brigade, response times are "much shorter" with the Matrice 4T. Crews can now identify access routes as they approach the fire site and detect secondary hotspots more quickly, allowing additional crews to be dispatched in parallel.

What other public safety tasks can the Matrice 4T support?

Beyond wildfire response, the Matrice 4T is widely used for security and surveillance, building inspection, post-incident damage assessment, and emergency response coordination — anywhere a portable thermal-equipped drone can deliver real-time aerial intelligence.

Final Thoughts

What the Chubut Provincial Fire Management Service has built is not a technology showcase — it's a re-engineered emergency response workflow with the Matrice 4T at its centre. Faster initial deployment. Live aerial intelligence into the cab of an approaching fire truck. Thermal hotspot detection that compresses ash watch. Night vision that enables search and rescue in conditions that would ground a helicopter.

Forty thousand hectares of native forest is a sobering reminder of what is at stake. Drones don't put fires out. But in the hands of trained brigades, they tighten every other link in the chain — and that's where lives and forests are saved.

Ready to bring the same capabilities to your fire and rescue, public safety or emergency response team? Explore the DJI Matrice 4T Thermal Drone at Coptrz — the UK's specialist supplier of DJI enterprise drones, with training, support and finance to get your team operational fast.