A grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation went towards the purchase of a drone for the Washington County Emergency Management Agency. The drone will be used to assist in search and rescue operations, identification of “hot spots” in burning structures, identification of areas in need of weed control that are not easily accessible, damage assessment, and photographing roadways in need of maintenance, improvements, and/or construction. Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen talks about the first use of the drone, “The drone that we were awarded the grant in the spring we’ve had on hand for a couple of months now. On Monday, I got to fly it officially at the request of the State Fire Marshall to help with the investigation into the fire from Saturday night. So, it’s good to have stuff that you never want to need, but it’s really good when you have it.” The grant application was first submitted for the March 10th application cycle. The total amount of the grant awarded was $11,000.