Australian firefighters say they will ground their water-bombing helicopters if a drone aircraft flies near the fires they're fighting.
Australian firefighters say they will ground water-bombing helicopters if a drone aircraft flies near the fires they're fighting. Photo: AFP
There are no rules against amateur or news photographers flying video cameras mounted on drones close to wildfires, but firefighters said the small unmanned aircraft are a safety hazard.
Civil aviation safety officials said a drone could cause enough damage to down an aircraft.
They also said that it is almost impossible for a fire-fighting pilot to see a drone in the air, particularly at a bushfire with low visibility and high winds.
Firefighters are asking for aviation regulators to set a 9 kilometres exclusion zone around wildfires.
Superintendent Anthony Ferguson from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service said during one fire season there were four serious incursions, and they're nervous about what they're going to face again.
Two years ago drones were not a problem for aerial firefighters, but now ownership of the remotely-controlled aircraft in Australia is "exploding" according to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).