Their sensors were used to detect Taliban fighters hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan and track Iraqi troop movements in the desert.

Now the pilotless drone aircraft known as UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are being enlisted on the domestic front to fight forest fires.

The cameras, heat sensors and other devices aboard the unmanned aircraft can show fire locations, spot people on the ground, record temperatures and wind speeds, and transmit other data to ground-based computers which can be relayed for fire crews.

The advantage of the drones over conventional piloted planes and helicopters is that they can fly for long periods of time over high-risk areas, day or night. Air operations at wildfires are usually suspended at sunset, [Assistant Post Fire Chief] Allen Currier said.

The military uses of this technology get all the press. Let’s face it, those will be the operations that get the bucks first from our government. Still, this is a step forward in the whole process of translating taxpayer dollars directly into taxpayer benefits.

I can see a whole generation of geeks turning their joystick skills into flying pilotless aircraft.