The newest recruits among Lake County fire departments only weigh a couple pounds and they have propellers.
Drones are now being used by police departments, fire departments, bomb squads and narcotics teams countywide.
Willoughby Fire Captain Scott Mlakar told News 5 drones can do something fire trucks and traditional equipment can't.
"Honestly, the biggest thing is safety," he said. "In the past, in a HAZMAT incident, a truck turned over and I want to find out what's leaking? I would have to send two people in, risking them. Now I can literally, in five minutes, have eyes on it and not risk anybody's life."
It took just under a year to get the drone off the ground officially, but years of preparation came first.
The hold-up attributed to licensing and permitting processes and changing rules within the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).
"It was much more involved than I thought it would be," Capt. Mlakar said.
Their drone's official maiden voyage was an emergency operation Saturday — a warehouse fire in Painesville.
"We could tell where that fire was getting to. With that thermal images, we could see the firewall break," Painesville Fire Chief Mark Mlachak told News 5.
According to the chief, the drone was really helpful to fire crews;"Had we not had that drone we would have been blind," he said.
For more information on drones and their legality, from the FAA: https://www.faa.gov/uas/
