From Wildfires to Water Rescues: The Birth of Public Safety Drones with Chief Wayne Baker

In Part 1 of this episode, Chief Wayne Baker walks through the early incidents that defined the role of drones in public safety. This is not a conversation about equipment specs or flight times. It is about real calls. A rare flood that turned a creek into a river. A wildfire that concealed a second advancing head. Moments where visibility meant the difference between reaction and prevention. Chief Baker shares how those experiences shifted the mindset inside agencies. What began as curiosity around drones became a recognition that aerial intelligence fundamentally changes command decisions. The question is no longer whether drones are useful. It is how agencies operate without them.