Prince George, B.C.- They come in a wide range of styles and prices and  are becoming  popular among  hobbyists  in the radio-controlled  device world.   They are drones,  officially called ‘Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’ (UAV).

Over the weekend,  the operation of a drone forced a change in a fire fighting  plan  in West Kelowna.   A  Helicopter that was  heading into the  wildfire zone had to be  advised to stay clear of the area, as someone was operating a ‘UAV’ in the same airspace.

“All wildfire areas are considered to be flight restricted as per the  air regulations” says Minister of Forests Steve Thomson.  “That’s a restriction that’s 5 nautical miles around the fire, and  an altitude of 3,000 feet above the ground level.  The operation of any aircraft that is not  associated with the  (fire) suppression activity within these areas is illegal and bodes a significant safety risk for personnel, especially when we have low flying fire fighting  aircraft in the area.”

The operator of that drone was located and the  flight of the UAV  ended.  It is not clear if any charges will  be laid.

Drones are specifically  banned from any  area near a wildfire, “This is a message we have to continue to get out” says Thomson “It’s an activity that I just don’t understand  why it takes place and why people don’t realize the  risk that can  be posed  to our personnel and aircraft when we are trying to deal with very critical  situations in fires.”

Douglas Freer of Prince George owns a drone and has used it to take aerial photographs, in fact, he is heading to a photography school in Germany to  fine tune his craft.  He says  operators of drones  should be aware of the rules and regulations  linked to the  UAVs “Everything  you buy comes with operational warnings which most of us ignore, you know, don’t  submerse in water, do not etcetera,  but  most of the drone  packaging does come with a separate card that is  very visible  with the rules and regulations( for operations) on it, and almost every website  of a drone manufacturer has a brochure on the rules.”

Freer says  some of the newer models have a built in safety feature so they  can’t be used  within  known restricted areas, such as  airports “My drone, the ignition will not turn over if I am  within  3-4 kilometers of an airport.”  But that safety  feature  is only as good as the  gps coordinates of a known restricted  no fly  zone,  and not  very helpful in the case of a wildfire,  which  is not a ‘fixed’ area.

Freer  says his message to  those who have drones, or are thinking about  getting one, “look into the rules and regulations in your area and follow them accordingly and just use common sense and good judgement when you fly.”

UAV’s that are under  35 kgs and are not being used for  work or research do not  need  permission from Transport Canada.  Most  UAV’s being sold   are well below that weight.  There are  other requirements in place if  a drone, even one that is less than 2kgs,  is being used for  commercial purposes or  for research.

Minister Steve Thomson also calls for common sense “We need to  reinforce this message,  it seems common sense,  but again, we’ve got  to get the message out that ( operating a drone near a wildfire) poses a very significant risk  and people need to be aware of that.”