More and more public safety departments are relying on eyes in the sky to do their jobs. 

The Chaska Police Department has four drones. This summer, they have been deployed in everything from missing person cases to river rescue to training.

Monday morning, one of the department’s drones was used to help combat a house fire off Hearing Lane. The drones can fly up to 400 feet above a scene. 

It was able to hover above firefighters as they sawed a hole in the roof. The infrared capabilities on the drone revealed where the hot spots were in real-time and thankfully, the residents made it out safely with no injuries.

Officer Hunter Panning says more and more law enforcement departments across the country are starting to rely on this technology and they are continually finding new ways to use it.

“It provides us time and distance in any situation to be methodical about how are we going to handle something,” said Panning.

The Chaska Police Department just launched its drone program in April. Since then, the drones have been deployed more than 50 times.