Put away the drone and let the firefighters do their work

Southern California firefighters are still actively tackling as many as six wildfires. While your drone might catch some epic photos, they're sharing the sky with air tankers, firefighting helicopters, and other craft that are flying to actually fight the devastating and destructive flames.

The Maria Fire in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles, is only 50 percent contained and has scorched more than 9,400 acres since starting on Halloween. In the few days since, already two "unauthorized drones" have impeded water dropping efforts to quench the flames.

At least three firefighting helicopters had to stop flying for for about an hour for both incidents. The Weather Channel reported that law enforcement addressed the issue at a Friday news conference: "This creates a very significant hazard for our airborne firefighting assets and causes them to land and stop firefighting."

While fire crews themselves can use drones strategically while battling blazes, amateur photographers are a full-blown hassle and only add to the danger. Firefighting helicopters and related craft fly at low altitudes, which is about the same height drones fly. Pilots in firefighting craft can get distracted or collide with the drone, possibly damaging equipment or, worse, causing a crash. And if a drone falls out of the sky, it's likely to affect firefighting crews on the ground. It's just all around disastrously unhelpful.

In 2018 the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned drone users to avoid flying near wildfires or risk a penalty of $20,000 or more. It's still against the law. Same goes for flying drones over rescue operations for a hurricane.

An FAA fact sheet makes it explicitly clear: Drones and Wildfires are a Toxic Mix. The FAA says more than 100 cases of drones flying near wildfires have been reported in recent years. Don't do it.