Drones forcing firefighters away from fire lines
The U.S. Forest service issued a warning Wednesday to operators of unmanned aircraft to stay away from the Lake Fire burning in the San Bernardino Mountains just northwest of Palm Springs.
Fire managers grounded all aircraft from the firefighting effort early Wednesday evening after saying an unmanned drone-type aircraft was spotted flying in the area of Onyx summit.
That was just before 6 p.m. with two hours of light remaining before dark.
Concerns over drones also delayed the start of flight operations over the fire on Thursday morning.
A statement from the Incident Management Team 1 said, “Once drones enter the airspace over a fire incident the fixed wing aircraft are immediately grounded for pilot safety.”
The statement continued, “Losing the ability to utilize these aircraft has a serious impact on the success of the firefighters on the ground.”
The Forest Service issued a poster saying unmanned aircraft, also known as drones, are not permitted anywhere near an active fire.
The Forest Service said the Unmanned Aircraft Systemsare a danger to authorized firefighting aircraft.
