During the Lake Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest that burned nearly 50 square miles, aerial firefighting efforts were grounded, to avoid the hazard of a private drone. Reporter Dan Stork says that the local congressman has responding by authoring a law against such activities…
Rep. Paul Cook introduced H.R. 3025, the Wildfire Airspace Protection Act of 2015. This bill will institute a criminal penalty on anyone who launches a drone that interferes with fighting wildfires on federal property.
Recently, a hobby drone flew into airspace over the Lake Fire blaze in the San Bernardino mountains while first responders were trying to extinguish the massive wildfire. This forced the immediate grounding of all firefighting aircraft because of the threat the drone posed to low-flying planes. This prevented firefighters from keeping control of the expanding wildfire for an afternoon and led to thousands of additional acres being burned.
The Wildfire Airspace Protection Act of 2015 would make it a federal offense to launch a drone that interferes with fighting wildfires on federal property. Firefighters and other first responders who use drones for aerial firefighting would be exempted. Anyone convicted under the Wildfire Airspace Protection Act of 2015 would face a fine and imprisonment for up to five years.
