Fort Collins Expands Citywide Drone Program

Drones deployed over 800 times in first month, helping first responders and utility crews respond faster and smarter

Mar. 30, 2026 at 9:44pm

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A highly detailed, glowing 3D illustration of a fleet of angular, neon-lit drones hovering over a stylized city skyline with illuminated power lines and other infrastructure, conveying the advanced technology and capabilities of Fort Collins' citywide drone program.Fort Collins' innovative drone program provides first responders and utility crews with a powerful new tool for faster, smarter emergency response and infrastructure monitoring.Fort Collins Today

The city of Fort Collins, Colorado has expanded its drone program to be used by police, firefighters, and utility crews, allowing them to deploy drones immediately after 911 calls to provide live video, thermal imaging, and real-time updates before crews even arrive on scene. In the first month since launching on February 2, drones have already been deployed over 800 times across the city.

Why it matters

Fort Collins' citywide drone program is the first of its kind in the nation, allowing for unprecedented collaboration between police, fire, and utility departments to maximize efficiency and safety through the use of aerial surveillance and monitoring. The drones provide additional situational awareness and allow crews to scale their response and allocate resources more effectively.

The details

The drones can fly up to 40 mph, giving first responders and utility crews a fast, detailed view of each situation they are responding to. Beyond live footage, the drones also help with preventive maintenance, monitoring infrastructure, and can eventually be used to deliver life-saving supplies. The program has allowed police to respond to 33% of calls within 90 seconds and cut non-priority response times by about half, down to around 8 minutes on average.

  • The drone program launched on February 2, 2026.
  • In the first 2.5 hours of filming, the drone was used 4 different times.

The players

Fort Collins Utilities

The city's utility department, which is collaborating with police and fire departments on the drone program.

Nick Combs

Communications representative for Fort Collins Utilities.

Sgt. Ryan Barash

Officer with the Fort Collins Police Department.

Kevin Fields

Captain with Engine 5 at Poudre Fire Authority.

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What they’re saying

“We have some facilities that are a little bit more remote and take a lot more time to respond to. So if we get calls for a security check or an outage or a main break or something like that, it just allows us a lot faster response time.”

— Nick Combs, Communications, Fort Collins Utilities

“These drones give us additional situational awareness. sometimes we don't know exactly what we're responding to, but a drone over the scene changes that instantly.”

— Sgt. Ryan Barash, Fort Collins Police Department

“We can respond to 33% of the calls that come into dispatch within 90 seconds. So, it doesn't take long. These drones do fly at 46 mph. It cut our response time by about half. I would say on non-priority calls, we're running around 8 minutes or so. Depending on the time, depending on the day, and other calls that we had going on.”

— Sgt. Ryan Barash, Fort Collins Police Department

“With a recent fire had multiple addresses involved. The drone allowed us to see everything ahead of time and deploy exactly the resources needed.”

— Kevin Fields, Captain, Poudre Fire Authority

“The collaboration across police, fire, and utilities is the first of its kind in the nation, and it's helping us maximize efficiency and safety citywide.”

— Nick Combs, Communications, Fort Collins Utilities

What’s next

The city plans to continue expanding the drone program and exploring new ways to utilize the technology to improve emergency response and infrastructure monitoring.

The takeaway

Fort Collins' innovative citywide drone program is a model for how first responders and utility crews can leverage aerial surveillance and monitoring to enhance public safety, improve efficiency, and better coordinate their efforts across departments.