Residents of a building at 700 Tranquille Road on Kamloops' North Shore may have felt like they were under drone attack when they looked out their windows on June 17.
But instead of an attack, they were actually getting a surprise cleaning.
As a result of an apparent address mix up, drones were hosing the wrong building down on Tranquille.
Some residents were at home when the washing of the building began in the afternoon. They looked out their window to see the powerful drones spraying the exterior of the five-story building, which has commercial businesses on the ground floor and residential condominium apartments above. The drones were operated by a Vancouver-based company Skydweller Technologies Inc., which said it had actually been hired to clean a nearby building, but began work on 700 Tranquille Road by mistake.
"This is a first for us, for sure," said Mike Africh, one of the founders of the company, of the error.
Alrich said the company usually works from more detailed models and doesn't work in Kamloops often, which he said is likely where the crews went wrong.
"Instead of east, they went west," he said.
Africh said the company, which is one of only a few offering the service in Vancouver, mostly works in the Lower Mainland, but can do jobs in locations like Kamloops when they can make it fit with their schedule or by combining projects.
The drones, which have a wingspan of about four feet, are attached to high-pressure hoses which draw heated water from a 1,000 litre tank in a van on the ground, which they connect to a water source. Operators on the ground control the drones and the process is highly structured, with the company producing a high-resolution 3-D model of the building before they begin, explained Africh.
Operators on the ground then control the drones to complete the cleaning, using cameras on the drones to see, but the drones do not record any of the cleaning work for privacy reasons.
Africh said the drones provide the advantages of being much faster than traditional window-washing on multi-story buildings while eliminating the risk of falls for those doing the cleaning. The 3-D models the company provides can also be used for future infrastructure projects.
Skydweller Technologies has been operating for about one year, said Africh, noting the technology had only recently reached the point of making this type of service possible with improved battery life and the necessary drone sizes.
Africh said the company still had to custom design some of the components for their business, which has included work on some major buildings in the Lower Mainland, including B.C. Place, Vancouver General Hospital and Surrey Memorial Hospital.
"It's been pretty well-received," said Alrich.
While there was some concern by 700 Tranquille residents and building management there may have been water sprayed into some homes if they had left windows or balcony doors open, Alrich said their systems makes this type of error unlikely.
Alrich said before beginning the cleaning process, crews document any pre-existing damage on the building or open windows.
"Our team follows strict protocols on every job, including time stamped documentation, visual progress reporting, and pre-inspection of all units for open windows prior to any cleaning activity," stated the company via their social media page.
The company said once they realized the error, the workers on site had the drones rinse off any soap residue and proceed to the proper address, which was located nearby. Alrich said building was about two-thirds cleaned before the error became clear to the on site crew.
The building management company later notified building residents of the error, asking people to take photos and send them to the property management company if they did have any water inside their unit by mistake.
The unexpected water did result in some wet patio items and may have damaged some potted plants, but at this point, it is unclear if any other damage occurred.
Alrich said the company offered to replace any plants impacted in the incident.
Tribe Management Inc., the property management company for 700 Tranquille Road, declined comment.
Editor's note: the partner of the author of this story has a place in the building that was not affected by the incident.
