C. Oregon firefighters worry about risk drones pose
In the middle of fighting a wildfire in Cajon Pass, California near Interstate 15 east of Los Angeles a week ago, firefighters had to ground their planes. The reason: Several drones were in the air at the time.
“That is a major concern for all the aerial firefighters,” said Bob Madden, operations chief for Bend Fire, said Friday.
Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, might be small, but they can be dangerous.
“The most vulnerable aircraft are helicopters, because they’re flying very low, on the same level UAVs are,” Madden said. “Those UAVs could damage the tail rotor or main rotor system and could bring a helicopter down.”
As the number of drone owners rises, so does the number of incidents. On Wednesday, a frustrated California firefighter took to Twitter: “A hobby drone flying over the #BaxterFire has once again disrupted firefighting air operations. #IfYouFlyWeCant”
“When we have drones in the area, we will shut down operations until we can clear the airspace,” said Doug Johnson, deputy fire staff officer with the Deschutes National Forest.
During last year’s Two Bulls fire, a drone was flying in the area. Firefighters found out about it afterward, on YouTube.
“If we knew that that was in the area at that time, it would have shut down our response from our large air tankers and helicopters to that fire,” Johnson said.
Drones are a real threat for firefighters, but there are no clear rules.
“The Federal Aviation Administration has to catch up on the drone regulations,” said Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel.
Currently, there are no specific laws regarding the use of drones during wildfires.
“That doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do,” Hummel said. “There are existing laws that my office and other law enforcement agencies can use.”
Although not specific to drones, interfering with a firefighter is a Class A misdemeanor. In California,, a proposed bill would allow firefighters to destroy drones in the area.
However, officials believe there’s still a future for the technology in firefighting.
“I believe it will be widely used in wildland fires, especially for low-visibility and nighttime monitoring of fires,” Madden said.
