Blair County and its Local Emergency Planning Committee hope to have their proposed drone program operational sometime this year.

The committee agreed Thursday to allocate $10,000 toward the project, bringing funding available for purchasing the two drones needed to launch the program to the needed $65,000, according to Cris Fredrickson, new head of county Emergency Management.

The committee had raised $50,000 previously via a Chemstream company donation of $35,000 and a Norfolk Southern Safety First grant of $15,000, Fredrickson said.

It had previously budgeted $15,000 for equipment maintenance.

The committee will nevertheless continue to look for additional grants and donations to fund the program, Fredrickson said.

The committee on Thursday also agreed to help pay the cost of operator training, ensuring there are enough certified operators for the program to be effective, she said.

The county already has a certified operator, as do some fire departments, while other agencies, including Logan Township Police Department, are planning training regimens for officers, according to Fredrickson and Logan Chief Devon Moran.

Drone operations require teams of at least three, according to environmental scientist and businessman Tim Rea, newly appointed vice chairman of the committee.

It will be critical for there to be a sufficient number of operators so they’ll be available when needed, said Altoona Fire Chief Adam Free.

It would be ideal to have about 10 operators distributed throughout the county, said Fredrickson and committee Chairwoman Karen Hamel.

Drones can be used by police and fire departments, ambulance services and hazmat operations, former county Public Safety Director Mark Taylor said previously.

They can be equipped with video, heat sensors, lights and loudspeakers and can be used to examine hard-to-access places and detect hard-to-see targets, officials have said.

Operators can use them to find people who are missing, like dementia patients, or people hiding in the woods and in the dark, like fugitives; to monitor flooding; to keep tabs on large events; to monitor traffic congestion; to provide safety in the issuing of arrest warrants; to plan firefighting strategies for large buildings; to inspect hard-to-reach places in buildings new or old; to help with environmental analyses, including by measuring acid mine drainage plumes in rivers; and to survey crops in the fields, officials have said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.