Forest fires are deadly, fast spreading and can have devastating effects as they rapidly sweep across land and destroy everything in their path.

On average, every year in the USA there are 100,000 forest fires that clear more than 4-5 million acres of land.

For those trying to fight the fires from the skies there are also unparalleled risks; the pilots flying water-filled planes to try and dampen the raging fires below put their lives at risk each time they take to the skies.

However, there is the potential for drones to take over these duties.

The ability to get water-carrying drones to fly to an area and deposit water on a fire would be possible, according to a British aerospace expert.

Speaking at a UK inquiry looking at the regulation of remotely piloted aircraft systems, Professor Keith Hayward, a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, explained how feasible drones would be for the task.

He said: “If you recognise and can identify where the fire may be, you can limit the area in which the aircraft will operate and dump its load of water. I know that that may not necessarily be the case when you have a fast-moving fire, but it is within the bounds of current technology to be able to provide safety margins sufficient for it to operate.”

Any drones that would be used would have to be large enough to vast amounts of water, but advantages would include not putting pilots at risk.

Other experts speaking at the inquiry have previously said that it would be possible to develop unpiloted cargo and passenger planes in the future, therefore it is not surprising that drone technology could be used to help fight fires and other emergencies.

Using drones to fight forest fires could also provide additional benefits beyond the safety argument, according to Gary Clayton, chairman of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association, who responded to Hayward’s proposals at the inquiry.

“To take your forest fire example, if you can pick up the water, which is the technological argument, you can – irrespective of smoke – sense where the hottest points are, where you can put the water, because you are not using eyes to find the fire,” he said, suggesting drones could be more efficient at putting out forest fires than their human counterparts.

However, one of the biggest challenges for a fire-fighting drone would be how it is developed to collect water after every flight.

Hayward explained: “I personally think that that particular use is likely to prove quite difficult, because picking up the water is a very tricky exercise and requires a high degree of airmanship, and I do not think that an RPAS [Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems] of any description is capable of that.”

The development of drones for helping fire authorities is already underway in some areas of the world.

Students at Ajman University, UAE, have previously created an autonomous drone that is able to help firefighters provide support in rescue missions. It can feedback live footage of what is happening, track down people involved in fires and include gas and smoke sensors to assess the severity of situations.

Andy Brown from the British Airline Pilots Association told the inquiry that drones could fly over forest fires and help to assess the situation. This could potentially include the speed and direction the fire is moving in.

He said: “We think that if RPAS can be used to replace pilots in dangerous missions, they should do so. As they say, it is a no-brainer. The military use RPAS for dull, dirty and dangerous missions where they do not want to lose a pilot, for instance over enemy territory.

“To go back to the example of fighting forest fires, that is a great use of RPAS. You could have an RPAS taking all the photos, and if it crashed it would not really matter.”

Brown even suggested that drones could be programed to avoid other aircrafts, addressing one of the primary concerns about the technology.

“GPS systems are so accurate now that it could be programmed not to go to certain places, although who else would want to fly over a forest fire anyway?” he said.