An illegal drone flying over the fire-wrecked ruins of a Los Angeles neighborhood left a “fist-sized” hole when it collided with a firefighting aircraft, the county’s fire chief said Friday.
The Super Scooper — a vital tool in the battle against the devastating blazes — was grounded after the collision and will not be back in the air until Monday, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told reporters.
The pilots who had been flying sorties over the Pacific Palisades burn, had been unaware of the collision and landed safely, he said.
Ground “maintenance staff noticed that there was a fist-sized hole in the leading edge of the wing,” he said.
“That Super Scooper will be prioritized for repair (and) it should be flying Monday,” Marrone added. “We only have two of them.”
Marrone said flying a drone in a wildfire area was illegal and dangerous, creating huge problems for the helicopters and planes trying to quell the massive fires.
“The most important thing to know is that if you fly a drone at one of these brush fires, all aerial operations will be shut down.”
Marrone said federal agencies were erecting electronic screening systems that would be able to identify who was operating illegal drones, with the county’s district attorney Nathan Hochman pledging to come down hard on offenders.
“If you’re thinking that it’s fun to send a drone up in the area… you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted, and you will be punished to the full extent of the law,” Hochman said.
Multiple fires raging around Los Angeles have razed over 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares), killing at least 10 people and destroying 10,000 homes and businesses.
The fires, which erupted on Tuesday, amount to one of the worst disasters in California history, with one estimate putting the cost of the damage at $150 billion.