The use of drones during wildfires can disrupt firefighting operations

As can be seen from a recent collision during the Los Angeles wildfires. A Canadian Super Scooper aircraft helped extinguish the forest fire landed after being hit by a drone.

This incident forced the temporary suspension of all air response operations on the island at least half an hour. This was requested by Southern California officials humans don’t fly drones in forest fire zones

This is not the first time that a drone violated the elimination of the fire. During the Jasper National Park wildfire in July 2024. everyone planes were landed over a significant period of time due to the illegal operation of drones. Similar cases have been reported during forest fires in Australia.

This incident highlights some of the challenges faced emergency workers the latest drone technology. It also highlights the need to keep talking about why forest fire zones are marked as flight restriction zones.

Drone incidents

While incidents involving unmanned aerial vehicles causing harm to people and property are relatively rare, detected violations by the sensors seems very high and increases over time.

In 2024 there were 1,190,922 violations in the United States — 10% more than in 2023. DroneSec, an online platform that monitors drone threats, reports 2,554 drone incidents worldwiderepresenting a 60% increase from 2021.

However, only 17% of these incidents resulted in the confiscation of the drone, while in 5% of cases the operator was detained.

Drone incursions into restricted forest fire zones are a growing concern in CanadaUSA, Australia and some European countries in the last few years. Since 2016, it has been on average 23 cases of drone invasions have been registered only in US wildfire areas.

As the number of recreational and commercial drones increases, the number of incidents and violations is expected to increase. According to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), more than By the end of 2024, 1 million drones have been registered. Meanwhile, there is over 53,000 drones are registered with Transport Canada. These figures do not include drones weighing up to 250 grams, which do not require registration.

Drones in emergency response

During liquidation of emergency situations, airplanes fly at low altitudes assess the situation, help extinguish fires and conduct search and rescue operations.

Drone operations that are not part of an emergency response can pose significant risks to aircrews, aircraft, ground firefighters, and the public. As part of security protocols, air base operations are suspended when drones are spotted in the airspace or a drone incident is reported.

During wildfires, every minute counts. Disruptions to emergency response teams can delay responses and further increase human and material losses.

Those who illegally operate drones in wildfire areas do so for a number of reasons, including lack of awareness of regulations or restricted areas, personal or commercial gain and pressure, lack of visible and effective enforcement, poor common sense, ambiguity in regulations and underestimation of potential risks and consequences.

Information and regulations

There are many tools available to drone pilots to check whether or not an area is restricted airspace. There are several sources in Canada, including NavCan drone flight planning application and National Research Council Drone Site Selection Tool which show updated permanent and temporary restricted airspaces, including wildfire zones.

In the US, such means as B4UFLY and FAA Temporary Flight Restriction map is available.

Since it exists technology cannot fully detect drone violationspublic awareness and education campaigns may still be the most cost-effective approach to reducing unauthorized drone operations during wildfires.

Government agencies have created several campaigns to raise awareness of the issue. They include Transport Canada “Know before you go!” postcard and FAA Digital Toolkit “Drones and wildfires are a toxic mix.”

Drones in emergency situations

Equipped with a variety of sensors, drones can provide high-resolution images and data that can be used by emergency managers and first responders to detect, track and identify wildfires; carrying out search and rescue operations; extinguishing fires; and evaluation. Some specialized drones can provide firefighting servicesincluding dispensing water, spraying foam, obtaining thermal images, locating gas leaks, conducting surveillance and relaying communications.

While unauthorized drone incursions into wildfire areas can hamper response operations, drones and other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence are revolutionizing wildfire risk management and emergency response all over the world.

This article is republished from Conversation under Creative Commons license. Read it original article.