Donated drone to help Wonder Lake fire with search and rescue team

Lou Lopez planned to use his drone, bought in 2019, on motorcycle trips to get aerial footage during his travels.

The device, which needs a Federal Aviation Administration permit to fly, and its carrying case ended up being too big to fit into the bike’s saddlebags. He rarely took it out, Lopez said.

An email from Ginelle Hennessey, a firefighter at the Wonder Lake Fire Protection District, made Lopez decide the drone would be a better fit for the fire department.

“Ginelle started contacting dealerships” looking for possible donations for the department, Wonder Lake Fire Chief Mike Weber said. She reached Lopez, the general manager at Crystal Lake Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.

Hennessey is training with Jäger, an 8-month-old German shepherd, to be the first fire department search and rescue only K-9 in McHenry County.

What they want to create with Jäger is not just one dog and handler but “a team with a dog and a drone available to use” whenever someone goes missing, Weber said.

I didn’t expect anyone to donate something like that. This is his personal drone.

—  Ginelle Hennessey, Wonder Lake Fire Protection District firefighter

While the drone Lopez donated does not have thermal imaging, it can be used to search for missing persons, as well as at fire scenes, hazardous material spills and other places where overhead imaging can aid first responders, Hennessey said.

She recalls a crash last summer when a car plowed into a cornfield. Firefighters knew the car was there but “we couldn’t see what we were getting into. This allows us to see what the terrain looks like,” Hennessey said.

She was in shock when Lopez responded, offering up the drone. “I didn’t expect anyone to donate something like that,” Hennessey said of the $2,500 device. “This is his personal drone.”

Lopez has been at the dealership, part of the Leader Automotive Group, for a month and wants the location to do more community involvement, he said. But he also felt it was just the right thing to do.

That Sunday morning when he saw Hennessey’s email, Lopez had attended services at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington. The sermon, he said, was about giving “not just of your time.”

The drone had been sitting in his garage since he bought it and probably had a grand total of an hour’s flight time. “I bought it as an impulse buy,” he added, and decided to make the donation.

The Wonder Lake department also seeks other donations to help round out the search and rescue squad, including a cap for the department’s Dodge pickup truck and an enclosed trailer for the team, Weber said.

Once the team is ready and Jäger is fully trained, the plan is to help with missing person searches throughout McHenry County.

“It is not just good for Wonder Lake. It is good for the whole county,” Weber said.

The department has started a T-shirt sale fundraiser to help cover the cost of training Jäger and setting up the search and rescue team.