Don’t fly your drone over a wildfire, Fort Smith fire crews plead

Crews battling wildfires near Fort Smith are asking people to stop trying to fly drones near the fires.

Parks Canada, whose crews are fighting fires outside Fort Smith alongside teams from the NWT and Alberta, made the plea in a post to the Wood Buffalo National Park’s Facebook page on Wednesday.

“Do not fly drones near wildfires,” Parks Canada urged people as essential workers begin returning to the town, with residents expected back early next week.

“Yesterday, fire management personnel received a report of a recreational drone flying within the wildfire Notam (Notice to Air Missions) area,” the agency wrote.

“As community members return to the area, we understand that people may be curious about the changes to the landscape. However, flying drones – including those below 249 grams – above an active wildfire area is illegal and dangerous.

“Flying drones over a wildfire endangers firefighting personnel and may cause firefighting operations to stop. Illegally flying a drone could result in fines of up to $15,000.”

Canadian aviation regulations specifically prohibit the flying of any drone within 9.3 kilometres (five nautical miles) of a wildfire.

Where wildfires are concerned, drones are treated like any other form of aircraft. The airspace around any forest fire is closed to all aircraft except those with specific permission to be there, which are almost always aircraft involved in directly fighting the fire.

“While some emergency response teams use drones to fight forest fires, flying a drone over or near a forest fire without permission increases the risk that a firefighting aircraft will collide with the drone,” a Transport Canada warning regarding drones and wildfires states.

“If a drone is spotted in the area, emergency response teams need to ground their operations, which puts lives at risk.”

The complex of fires south and west of Fort Smith is easily visible from space, never mind a drone.

The fires have so far burned an estimated 485,159 hectares. Using federal data that puts Fort Smith’s size at 2,460 hectares, that means the fires have burned an area roughly 200 times the town’s footprint.