On Sunday, Cal-Fire called in aircraft to help suppress the Constantia Fire near Susanville. However, there was a delay in operations due to a drone flying in the area.
Officials had to land their helicopter momentarily while the drone was in the sky. Thankfully air support was able to resume once the drone came down.
Chief Charlie Moore with the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District says a drone in a firefighters airspace is perhaps one of the most dangerous sights a pilot can see when fighting a fire.Â
When a drone is in sight, he says it's not only protocol for the aircraft to force itself to land but it also stops the suppression from the sky.
"If you can't fly aircraft, then the fire could potentially get larger and that's just going to cause more damage," says Moore.
He says that's the last thing that any firefighter wants to see when lives and property are at stake.
In a video that Chief Moore showed Channel 2 News, you can see just how low aircraft need to fly in order to successfully battle flames with precision. Many drones can easily reach these heights.
"Whether it gets sucked into the engine or it hits the windshield, you're potentially going to kill somebody," says Moore.
It's not just the pilot whose life is at risk but also anyone on the ground if a place or helicopter comes down.
Then of course there are the costs. These helicopters can cost thousands to operate and millions to build, not to mention any of the legal fees that come with flying drones in a prohibited airspace.
"It's in the code of federal regulations that you can't interfere with firefighting so flying a drone anywhere near a firefighter interferes with fighting activities," says Moore.
Moving forward, firefighters hope all drone operators will keep to the ground when a wildfire is active.
"I can think of dozens of fires here where the use of aircraft have kept the fire in check before it got to structures," says Moore. "We have to have aircraft to fight fires, we can't use aircraft if you're flying a drone."
