As wildfires continue to blaze in California, Alaska and the Southwest, privately flown drones that enter airspace over or near these incidents are impeding efforts to control and contain them, placing undue risk on firefighters and at risk communities.
More than 30,000 wildfires have burned over 2.7 million acres across the United States this year, and more than a dozen drone intrusions have already affected aerial firefighting operations in California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Alaska, Minnesota and Montana. Several of these have resulted in grounded aircraft.
Drones interrupted air efforts in three California fires in recent weeks, including in Kern County, where a blaze destroyed more than 150 homes and killed an elderly couple. Drones grounded aircraft five times on the Saddle Fire in Utah in late June, as the blaze burned remote terrain inaccessible to ground forces, threatened communities, and prompted the evacuation of 500 homes.
In 2015, there were 21 incidents of drones intruding over wildfires, twice as many as the year before. Aircraft were grounded six times, and twice aerial firefighting aircraft had to take evasive actions to avert a collision with drones. In one instance, fire managers halted aerial support to firefighters as a wildfire burned over a California highway.
Drones pose serious risks to firefighting planes and helicopters because these aircraft fly low and slow, in smoke-obstructed areas with poor visibility, and pilots are preoccupied with positioning to release water or fire retardant.
When unauthorized drones — also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs — enter these airspaces, fire managers are forced to delay or halt aerial support to firefighters on the ground until it is safe for these aircraft to fly again. During these delays, fire crews lose access to a valuable resource, compromising their ability to protect communities at risk, and wildfires can grow larger and more destructive.
The Federal Aviation Administration prohibits private drone operators from flying above 400 feet, and explicitly requires them to keep clear of piloted aircraft. While the FAA establishes temporary flight restrictions over most large wildfires and charts them on aviation planning tools, 98 percent of wildfires are controlled within the first 24 hours without flight restrictions in place.
When smoke is in the air, a hobby drone might seem like a relatively safe way to see what is happening and, perhaps, even alleviate concerns. At the same time, I assure drone operators that when a firefighting aviator sees that an unauthorized UAV has invaded the highly dynamic, smoke-filled, low-altitude airspace where they operate, concern does not adequately explain what the aviator feels.
Used in the right place at the right time by trained experts, drones can be a valuable tool for wildfire managers and firefighters. The Department of the Interior, U.S. Forest Service and FAA worked together to test unmanned aircraft systems on two wildfires last year and on one so far this fire season. These tests and additional flight demonstrations provided valuable experience as we continue our work to safely, responsibly integrate new technology into the firefighter’s toolbox.
Responsible hobbyists should register their drones with the FAA and leave them at home when smoke is in the air. Most responsible drone users probably are unaware that the smoke column they see is a wildfire and that flying their drone could pose a risk to firefighters and aircraft that are protecting lives and property.
To address this problem, Interior’s offices of Wildland Fire and Aviation Services worked with industry to make initial wildfire location data publicly available to commercial mapping providers. DJI, the largest manufacturer of UAVs, and AirMap and Skyward, the leading providers of airspace intelligence and navigation services to unmanned aircraft, have added these real-time wildfire alerts to their geofencing data to help keep unauthorized drones from interfering with firefighting operations.
AirMap and Skyward now obtain wildfire information directly from Interior’s Integrated Reporting Wildland-Fire Information (IRWIN) program, and immediately push it to drone pilots through AirMap’s iOS and Web apps, AirMap’s API, and the GEO geofencing system included in the DJI GO flight control app. This data is more current and includes more active wildfires than the FAA’s Temporary Flight Restrictions.
If you see smoke and have concerns, call your local authorities, but leave your drone on the ground. Remember, if you fly, we can’t.
Mark Bathrick is director of aviation services for the Department of the Interior. He lives and works in Boise, Idaho.
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