Drone incursions are becoming more and more of an issue when it comes to wildfires, so last year I designed these graphics, but I never got around to sharing them anywhere.
If you send your drone up during a wildfire, even if you don't feel like you are that close, all planes and helicopters in the area may have to be grounded which can have a massive and detrimental effect on first responders' ability to manage that fire.
If you send your drone up and a plane or helicopter hits it, no matter how small your drone is, it could crash that aircraft injuring or killing those on board and potentially people on the ground as well. Even if the aircraft stays up, it will have damage that could ground it for an indeterminate and potentially extensive amount of time, meaning one less resource is available for that fire and other fires.
Just don't do it.
These graphics are free to use and distribute for any non-profit uses! You can check out my Payhip store to download (for free, or pay what you want) a package of files that include vertical versions of each design, print sizes, and social media sizes.
If you want to check out the other disaster and disaster education resources I have available, visit my website.
This is such a different style than I usually work in, but I had so much fun with it, and I love how it came out.
Thank you for this! I am a wildland firefighter and can confirm it's a fucking pain in the ass when an unknown drone is sighted on a fire. All aircraft working the fire have to be grounded, and they have to STAY grounded until law enforcement finds the drone operator. It can take firefighters away from our tasks as well as we try to track the drone's flight path.
I've seen this happen before, and like I said, it's a pain in the ass for EVERYONE. We communicate via radio on fires, and any time a channel has to be taken up by some bullshit like "there's a civilian drone flying" is time when other information can't be communicated over that channel. Larger incidents usually have open channels for just about everything, but still, it's radio traffic that doesn't need to be taking up airtime.
Most wildfires and prescribed burns have established Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs). If you plan on flying a personal drone somewhere, please check that there isn't a TFR in place. The FAA has this information freely available, and I believe there are several apps where the information is updated as well.
There's literally no excuse for not doing your due diligence as a drone pilot. There's also no excuse for being an asshole and trying to get pictures or video footage of wildfires when you don't have the clearance to be in the air.
Yep! I work in wildland fire dispatch and it is a fucking pain in the ass to deal with.
