California Offers $75K Bounty For Reckless Drone Operators That Interrupted

SAN BERNARDINO >> San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman James Ramos and the county’s top law enforcement and fire officials Wednesday sent a blunt message to illegal drone operators who hinder firefighters: They will not tolerate it, and offenders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The drones not only got in the way of firefighters’ aerial efforts, but actually delayed their response in stopping the fire, in turn causing more damage.

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the rewards Tuesday. When Ars first reported on the drone incident during the Lake Fire, USFS officials said another drone had also been spotted in the vicinity of the fire, but that drone operator has been caught. “They know their drones are putting lives at risk”.

The warnings come in wake of the North fire in the Cajon Pass, where firefighters had to break off their air attack because of drones. “We were just trying to educate them”, a USFS spokesperson said. But, now, as he flies over wildfires to drop chemical retardant, he not only worries about watching for other aircraft, birds and thick drifting smoke, he thinks about the drones that might be out there.

“It’s illegal to fly drones in areas where fires are taking place, where first responders are responding, and it hinders their ability”, Ramos said.

Two weeks later, during the Mill 2 fire (which was also in San Bernardino County), the Los Angeles Times reports that “officials had to briefly suspend a tanker after a drone was spotted flying over Mill Creek Canyon near California 38”. The county is not offering a reward for that incident because it occurred within San Bernardino’s city limits, not within the county’s jurisdiction, county spokesman David Wert said.