RAMONA, Calif. (KGTV) — Cal Fire is asking drone operators to keep their eyes in the sky grounded during wildfires after a drone came dangerously close to a firefighting helicopter during the Steele Fire on Wednesday.
“It was close enough to make the pilots very uneasy in that situation and when it's communicated to us, we shut down all the operations and all the firefighting aircraft leave,” Mitchell Hubbard, a Cal Fire air tactical supervisor, told ABC 10News Thursday in an interview at the Ramona Air Attack Base.
Hubbard said the drone flew alarmingly close to a Cal Fire helicopter, forcing air operations to stop immediately.
It’s not clear who was operating the drone, but Hubbard said the incident is a strong reminder that drone use near wildfires can put lives at risk.
He said a good rule of thumb is for drone pilots to stay 10 to 15 miles away from any visible smoke.
While Cal Fire does file flight restrictions with the FAA during wildfire responses, Hubbard said those restrictions take time to draft and implement, so the agency relies on drone users to act responsibly.
Hubbard said that because a drone can potentially take down an aircraft, Cal Fire shuts down all air operations.
"If you fly, we cannot," he said.
