Unmaned aircraft being blamed for allowing the Lake fire to go out of control

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This is despicable! Its going to be what will be a very bad light on us. I live a few miles from the Eastern front of this fire. I understand the first drone was a fixed wing aircraft. I will post this mornings story from our local radio station that paints a dimmer picture on the use of drones concerning this fire. Orr you can hear it @ http://www.z1077fm.com/local-news after 9:00.

6/25/15 @ 1:30 P.M.

Here is the latest information on the lake fire. Locally, Fire Management has ordered mandatory evacuations of Burns Canyon and the Rimrock areas. Pioneertown is now under a voluntary evacuation. The Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District has issued a Smoke Advisory for the Victor Valley, Yucca Valley, Morongo Valley, Lucerne Valley and surrounding communities. Changing weather and fire conditions will determine which areas are affected. If you see or smell smoke in the air where you are, be cautious and use common sense to protect your family’s health. Limit time spent outdoors and avoid outdoor exercise. The fire was active overnight in the Rainbow area and West Pipes Canyon, no structures have been lost. The fire grew to 23,200 acres and the containment area fell to 21 percent overnight. 1,874 Firefighters are on scene and the cost of fighting the fire is now estimated at $14,600,000. Hindering firefighting efforts were two incidents of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, commonly known as drones. Once drones enter the airspace over a fire incident the fixed wing aircraft are immediately grounded for pilot safety. Losing the ability to utilize these aircraft has a serious impact on the success of the firefighters on the ground. Residents who have evacuated are being directed to go to Copper Mountain College; pets can be dropped off at the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter, and horses can be brought to the Yucca Valley Equestrian Center on Avalon.

Incident Information System, Lake Fire Information Page: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4302/
 
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I agree this is terrible.

Imagine if your house could have been saved!!!!
 
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They took the confederate flag, what makes you think they wont take our "drones" away? They will use the media to create fear and bam it's over...
 
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It is possible my home could be affected. But that is a shot in the dark. When air operations occur the area does become restricted air space. This isn't funny. Its just one less thing those firefighting pilots need think about. Picture this your carring a huge losd that is close to weight capacity, Now you are comming in at a very low and uncomfortable altitude avoiding trees, mountains, wildlife, ground crews, and smoke. Look some yayhoo is right in my escape route! Nope I would never agree with that!


My remark to the radio stations report:

As a member of the local Drone community this is despicable! Its going to be what will be a very bad light on us. I live a few miles from the Eastern front of this fire. It is possible this could affect me and my neighbors. I understand the first drone was a fixed wing aircraft? The second a rotor craft? Would like to hear more of the specifics. I hope the offender is caught and made a big example of. I posted the following blog in the Phantom Pilot forum.The majority of us are on guard of this type of behavior,privacy, and safety concerns. I call it someone messes their pants now the rest of us will be required to wear a diaper.
This just in today.

DRONES BLAMED FOR INCREASE IN FIRE, THE LATEST FIRE INFORMATION


By Michael Gandara, on June 26th, 2015
Fire officials are blaming drones that shut down air tanker operations Wednesday for significantly increasing the size of the Lake Fire. The Lake Fire is now at 29,813 acres burned, an increase of 12,000 acres since Tuesday, and is 19 percent contained, down from a high of 38 percent. Firefighters had been close to containing the northern edge of the fire when air tankers were grounded when the pilot of the DC-10 saw the drone as he was coming in to drop retardant near Onyx Peak, and immediately aborted the mission. The tanker was diverted to another fire where it dropped its load. Two other smaller air tankers had to jettison their loads of retardant because they were too heavy to land. A second drone was spotted as the planes returned to their base. Four firefighters have been injured including one who was accidentally doused with a load of water by a smaller air tanker. The main growth is along the northeastern flank. Mandatory evacuations are still in place for the Burns Canyon and Rimrock areas. A voluntary evacuation was put into place for Pioneertown. The fire remains 8 miles west of Pioneertown, and is moving north. Pioneertown is serving as the staging area for CalFire shelter protectors and a San Bernardino County sheriff’s posse is herding up livestock from nearby ranches. Cal Fire Capt. Joseph Navarro said about 100 ranches may be in the evacuation zone. The communities of Lake Williams, Erwin Lake, and Baldwin Lake are under an alert for possible evacuations.

As the Lake Fire looms ominously at the west end and north of our Morongo Basin, we are all closely watching the fire and how it is being fought. CalFire-Riverside Fire Captain Chris Kemp will be the guest on the “Up Close” show today at 10:00 am. Captain Kemp will take your questions live on the air about the fire, how it being fought, the danger of fires during a drought and fire Safety. CalFire-Riverside Fire Captain Chris Kemp. On the Z107.7 “Up Close” show today.

June 26th, 2015 | Category: Featured, Z107.7 Local News, Top Story
 
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Wow.

GOOD LUCK 2 U!!!
 
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They took the confederate flag, what makes you think they wont take our "drones" away? They will use the media to create fear and bam it's over...

Let's assign blame where it belongs. The "they" you mentioned three times are not flying drones in controlled airspace.

Monte55, planes aren't grounded when birds are around. Birds can not be controlled. Drones can.

These drone operators are irresponsible. I blame them.
 
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Birds are much smarter than these idiots.

They leave when this stuff shows up (not to mention the fire).
 
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I agree the drone operators have no business there. But in order to save property and lives, they ground a large plane for a small drone. That seems a bit extreme to me. Fire trucks don't stop operating because the streets are icy. The planes that drop water etc to fight fires fly low. With the thermal from the fire, I doubt the drone could be in control if not melt at those heights.
 
I agree the drone operators have no business there. But in order to save property and lives, they ground a large plane for a small drone. That seems a bit extreme to me. Fire trucks don't stop operating because the streets are icy. The planes that drop water etc to fight fires fly low. With the thermal from the fire, I doubt the drone could be in control if not melt at those heights.

I think the people in charge of the fire operations know a lot more about those risks than we do. If they suspended operations, they obviously did so for a good reason.
 
QUOTE="ianwood, post: 429221, member: 6099"]I think the people in charge of the fire operations know a lot more about those risks than we do. If they suspended operations, they obviously did so for a reason.[/QUOTE]
Im sure they do. But if it was your home ready to burn and they told you they stopped operations because a hobby drone was in the area, you would be pissed. Hell, I've seen rc aircraft hit something that size and keep on flying. .
 
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Lets not bicker amongst ourselves. We know this is a problem as to how it paints a bad image of our love of flying our aircraft. Lets bond. I do have questions about the circumstances. I think being "restricted space because of fire opps and if the pilot sees a small drone its in my mind to close.
 
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Im sure they do. But if it was your home ready to burn and they told you they stopped operations because a hobby drone was in the area, you would be pissed. Hell, I've seen rc aircraft hit something that size and keep on flying. .

Your making assumptions about safety that none of us are qualified to make.

If it was my home, I'd be out with an RF detection kit canvassing the area looking for guys with an RC controller in their hand. And when I found them, I'd punch them out, grab their controller and crash their drone into the ground hard. I'm tempted to drive out there this weekend and do just that!
 
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Im just thinking out loud here. I know with large expensive planes the risk is much greater not to mention the lives at risk. If I see emergency equipment heading to an area be it land or air....the first thing is not to get my quad and shoot video .....it's to stay the hell out of the way and standby if help may be needed.
 
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I agree the drone operators have no business there. But in order to save property and lives, they ground a large plane for a small drone. That seems a bit extreme to me. Fire trucks don't stop operating because the streets are icy. The planes that drop water etc to fight fires fly low. With the thermal from the fire, I doubt the drone could be in control if not melt at those heights.

I really don't know how you can even attempt to defend the drone's positions.
 
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QUOTE="ianwood, post: 429221, member: 6099"]I think the people in charge of the fire operations know a lot more about those risks than we do. If they suspended operations, they obviously did so for a reason.
Im sure they do. But if it was your home ready to burn and they told you they stopped operations because a hobby drone was in the area, you would be pissed. Hell, I've seen rc aircraft hit something that size and keep on flying. .[/QUOTE]
Yes, I'd be very pissed at the idiot who prevented the firefighters from doing their job.
 

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