According to Daniel Berlant, Cal Fire spokesman, firefighters were faced with a major challenge on the Lake Fire in San Bernardino County yesterday, as a hobby drone, or (UAS) unmanned aircraft system, was spotted in the fire area where air tankers were flying.
Just before 6 PM, according to Berlant, in the Onyx Summit area an air tanker spotted the drone in the area where the firefighting aircraft was working.
Firefighters were forced to ground all firefighting aircraft until they could find the operator and get the drone out of the area.
An unauthorized drone is a major safety hazard for a pilot, as a collision could easily result in major damage, injuries to the pilot on board, as well as firefighters below and worse, an aircraft crash.
Cal Fire reminds hobby drone users, "if you fly, we can't!"
The Lake Fire, in San Bernardino County is now 23,199 acres and is only 21% contained. Evacuations remain in effect with additional evacuations added yesterday.
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