Drones Disrupt Aerial Firefight Drops Over Cajon Pass North Fire (VIDEO)

At the Riverside Press-Enterprise, "DRONES: Unmanned aircraft briefly hinders fire fight":

For the pilots who fight fire from the sky, it’s getting to the point of being ridiculous.

An hour after Friday’s inferno erupted in the Cajon Pass, a drone was seen spying on the flurry of activity as flames incinerated trapped vehicles on Interstate 15 and frightened motorists fled for their lives. Authorities immediately grounded firefighting aircraft.

It marked at least the fourth time since late June that a drone was spotted in the vicinity of pilots bombing an Inland Southern California wildfire with retardant or water. Each time the incident halted an aerial attack and may have allowed flames to spread farther, and more rapidly, than they would have, officials said.

“I wish I had an answer for the fix to all of this,” said a frustrated Mike Eaton, aviation officer for the San Bernardino and Cleveland national forests, in a telephone interview Saturday. “I don’t know if the public just doesn’t understand or if they are just not paying attention.”

In any event, many operators aren’t getting the point that their remotely controlled flying devices pose a danger to manned airplanes and helicopters. Or they don’t believe it...

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