By Leischen Stelter, editor of In Public Safety
On July 12, a civilian-operated drone forced firefighters battling a 35-acre wildfire in Southern California to ground supporting air tankers. This was the fourth such incident in a month where a drone disrupted firefighting efforts in California, according to a news article in FireRescue1.
While federal authorities attempt to restrict air space over wildfires, many civilians continue to illegally fly these unmanned aircraft without permission in an effort to get a bird’s eye view of the fire.
[Related Article: Court Rules on Civilian Drones Used to Record Police]
“These drones are airborne in an area where live pilots are flying. Pilots cannot see these four by four-foot aircraft especially since they are often made of material that can’t be picked up by radar,” said Captain Peter Jensen, a 26-year wildland firefighter with the Ventura County Fire Department in California. “Drones are dangerous because pilots and air traffic controllers have no way of anticipating what ground-based pilots are going to do with these aircraft.”
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