Toy drone disrupts aircraft fighting California wildfire

Posted by admin on Aug 15, 2014 at 9:37 pm America/Chicago

A private drone trying to film a wildfire that has charred nearly six square miles in Northern California briefly disrupted firefighting efforts, although workers had gained the upper hand against the blaze, officials said on Monday. Fire officials spotted the drone over the so-called Sand Fire on Sunday and immediately called police to find the drone's owner and have the toy grounded to avoid a possible mid-air collision, a California fire official said. "That drone was flying within our air space and was a hazard for our aircraft," said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Kevin Lucero. "It essentially inhibited some of our operations going on." The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office told the Sacramento Bee newspaper that it was investigating the incident. It said the drone's owner was a hobbyist trying to film the blaze. Check out more information at news.msn.com