Cal Fire: Hobby Drone Grounded Firefighting Aircraft Battling Lake Fire
SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST (CBS13/AP) — Cal Fire warned that hobby drones could hamper firefighting efforts.
Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said firefighting aircraft were grounded when a hobby drone was spotted flying over the Lake Fire.
Tonight a hobby drone grounded firefighting aircraft by flying over the #LakeFire. When you fly...we CAN'T! Puts our pilots lives at risk.
— CAL FIRE PIO (@CALFIRE_PIO) June 25, 2015
Grounding air support for this fire is significant because of how many units are involved, including 3 air tankers, 2 DC-10s, 18 helicopters and four support planes
The blaze has burned more than 20,000 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest and is currently 27 percent contained.
A change in wind direction forced the evacuation of several hundred campers on Wednesday, after several hundred more had done the same over the weekend.
The blaze about 90 miles east of Los Angeles was partially contained after burning nearly 30 square miles of old-growth timber.