Dry and windy conditions sparked a massive wildfire Friday afternoon on Interstate 15 on the Cajon Pass near San Bernadino, California. The fast-moving wildfire swept across the freeway, destroying more than a dozen vehicles and sending motorists fleeing to safety.
Efforts by firefighters to fight the fire were hampered by five drones being flown in the area, causing a delay of almost a half-hour, putting people and vehicles at risk. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Lee Beyer said firefighting planes were grounded for 26 minutes because of fears the planes would collide with the drones.
It was the fourth time in the past four weeks that drones have interfered with efforts to fight wildfires in Southern California. “There’s an area not too far from where the fire started that’s a pretty popular area for folks to come out and essentially play with their drones,” Beyer said.
An alert crew member in one of the firefighting planes noticed the drones and alerted ground crews who then tracked down the drone operators and forced them down. “As soon as we see drones, we shut down all of our aircraft for the safety reasons,” said Beyer. “If a drone got sucked into a wing or a propeller, that could have some serious impacts.”
No arrests were made because the drones were not being flown to intentionally inhibit firefighters efforts in fighting the 3,500-acre wildfire. Beyer also wouldn’t speculate on how much the grounding of the firefighting planes, because of the drones being in the air, had on how quickly the fire spread.
“The fire was moving pretty quickly,” said Beyer. “Either way, it certainly impacts our operations but it’s difficult to quantify.”
At least 1,000 firefighters battled the blaze that ended up destroying 11 structures in rural Baldy Mesa. The fire also destroyed a dozen vehicles and left the freeway closed for hours. One witness who fled the wildfire on the freeway said there were hundreds of people fleeing their cars and running from the flames.
