Texas firefighters are asking residents to stop flying drones near wildfire sites, reports The Houston Chronicle.
Last weekend, the Texas A&M Forest Service was battling a blaze near College Station when it was forced to send out an official request to Texas citizens, pleading with them to not fly drones near the fire.
In their news release, the Forest Service explained that “Flying a drone near a wildfire creates a serious safety hazard for firefighters and halts the assistance of any firefighting aircraft.”
Evidently the request came after two fire-fighting aircraft had to be grounded, just before they were about to drop retardants on the conflagration. The planes were forced to land because a drone had entered the area over the wildfire, endangering the aircraft.