"An alarming trend, and confusing regulations, hamper firefighting efforts across the country"
"In 2022, a wildfire tore across 18 acres of Mt. Helena in northwestern Montana. As crews raced to tame it, an unauthorized drone flew into the area, bringing their air operations to a grinding halt. Unknown drones pose risks to aerial firefighting operations, so the Montana crew responded by following procedures shared by many state and federal fire crews.
Officials found the owner of the drone in just under 15 minutes, but leaving firefighters on the ground to work without aerial support for even that short span of time meant a beloved city park burned. It also put the capitol building at risk less than three miles away.
“[The fire] was right on the doorstep of town,” said Cory Calnan, the deputy fire protection bureau chief for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation of Fire Protection. “Although it may seem rather benign flying a small little toy drone over a wildfire for a couple of pictures, there are very real, serious consequences to that.”
On average, 23 conflicts with unmanned aerial systems are reported annually within the wildland fire community, with a record 41 reported in 2016. Because firefighting aircraft—such as helicopters, air tankers, and smoke jumpers—can fly at the same altitude as many hobbyist drones, the risk of a collision will usually halt all aerial firefighting efforts until the drone has cleared the area, leaving ground crews without critical support. Federal and state land management agencies alike have reported incidents."
Molly McCluskey reports for Sierra magazine August 27, 2024.
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