Drones are a lot of fun and they are popping up everywhere. One place you should never see them is during an active fire. Two drones were flying during the Poeville Fire, which caused crews to cease operations for about an hour.
Aerial operations and support are a big part of suppressing wildfires, especially in rough terrain that is hard to access.
“There’s a lot of people on the ground that are depending on the use of the aircraft, so if we have our dozers working and we may have the air tankers putting retardant ahead of them to make it a little safer,” said Mike Heikka, Battalion Chief for Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue.
Unfortunately, those aerial operations cannot happen if drones are in the area.
“They may think they are small little drones that can’t hurt anything, but that little drone can take down those giant DC-10 tankers as well as the helicopters,” said Sheriff Darin Balaam with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.
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