North Whidbey Fire and Rescue considers BRINC drones for search and rescue

North Whidbey Fire and Rescue is considering contracting with BRINC, a Seattle-area company that builds drones and software for public safety uses, to add drone capability to the department’s response toolbox. BRINC advertises “an emergency response time of just 70 seconds for its drones” and says devices are “able to automatically launch from their dock and fly directly to the coordinates of calls received by dispatch.” The proposal is at the evaluation stage; county and department leaders are

North Whidbey Fire and Rescue personnel said they would likely find drones most useful for search and rescue missions across the department’s jurisdiction, which “stretches from Deception Pass to Libbey Road,” including forested areas where hikers often get lost or injured and need help. The department’s existing response footprint covers trails and remote shoreline that can slow ground crews, and personnel framed the BRINC capability explicitly around locating people in those forested reaches.

Operational details reported about the BRINC system underscore a logistical constraint for North Whidbey. The drones “fly via cell service and radio frequency,” the materials say, while local coverage maps and department observers note that “cell service can be unreliable around Deception Pass.” That combination, automated dock launches tied to dispatch coordinates plus cell-dependent communications, creates a practical question for missions in the Deception Pass portion of the district.

A usage-profile detail attributed to “Schmidt” in reporting also emerged during the discussion: “Schmidt estimated 80-85% of the agencies currently using BRINC drones are law enforcement agencies.” That characterization of BRINC’s current customer mix is significant as North Whidbey assesses whether the platform’s capabilities and operational model fit fire‑service search-and-rescue priorities rather than primarily law enforcement missions.

At this stage, the department has not released a decision timeline, contract value, or procurement paperwork; the only procurement status provided in reporting is that the proposal remains “at the evaluation stage.” The evaluation will need to reconcile BRINC’s automated dispatch integration and 70-second response claim with on-the-ground limits such as cell coverage near Deception Pass, and to determine how the system would be used across the Deception Pass–Libbey Road jurisdiction if adopted.

A final decision will determine whether docked BRINC drones become part of North Whidbey’s response tools for forested search-and-rescue calls and how the department will address the communication and operational questions raised during evaluation.