BEDFORD (WSLS 10) - The Bedford Fire Department is now FAA compliant to fly a drone.
Last year, firefighters and rescue workers used a drone to help find a hiker stuck on the Peaks of Otter, but the flight didn't meet FAA regulations.
Recommended Videos
The department needed a COA, certificate of authorization, and additional training to be FAA compliant. After a year of hard work, the department is now able to fly its drone legally.
The Bedford Fire Department invested more than 1,000 hours to be FAA compliant, developing policies, procedures and a training program.
Curtis Marshall with the department did a majority of the paperwork, which was especially difficult because of the legal and pilot jargon.
"It's been a long process and tedious process and a learning everyday process," said Marshall.
Marshall says Bedford is one of the first in the Commonwealth to get a COA for public safety and now that he has figured out the process he is helping first responders across the country.