An urgency ordinance temporarily banning the use of drones throughout most of Poway was approved by the City Council Tuesday night amid concerns that the devices could hamper firefighting efforts.

Poway is the first city in the nation to take such a step, officials said. The 45-day ban is considered a stopgap measure until a more detailed law can be drafted.

The ordinance, adopted by a 4-1 vote with Councilman John Mullin opposed, bans drones in the parts of the city vulnerable to wildfire — about 75 percent of the “City in The Country.”

Mayor Steve Vaus said the ban would only be enforced during an emergency to keep drones out of the skies when firefighting aircraft might be overhead. He said with the height of the fire season quickly approaching, taking the action was necessary.

“If there’s not a fire coming over the hill we’re not going after the driveway droners or those flying in the park, that’s not what this is for,” Vaus said. “When we have an emergency this will give us something with teeth.”

Drones have interfered with firefighting aircraft several times this year in California, at times leaving planes unable to safely drop water and fire retardant on wildland blazes.

All five members of the Poway council said Tuesday they supported the idea of keeping the city and firefighters safe, but Mullin voted against the urgency ordinance because he said a more exact law needed to be passed.

“I’m a little uncomfortable drafting an ordinance that we’re acknowledging we’re not going to enforce except on special occasions,” he said.

City Attorney Morgan Foley said the urgency ordinance can be renewed for up to two years after the initial 45-day period. During the next month and a half he said he will be working on a more detailed permanent ordinance to bring before the council which will specify when such a ban should be enforced.

Three speakers asked the council to take more time with their decision, with one suggesting that the ordinance overreaches and “impedes people’s freedom.”

Vaus, who brought the idea to the council two weeks ago, said he trusts the city’s staff and law enforcement “to only use this with the utmost in discretion and only when absolutely necessary.”

Like so many parts of the county, Poway is skittish about wildfire having lost many homes in both the 2003 and 2007 firestorms.

It is already a state crime to interfere with the lawful efforts of a firefighter to extinguish a fire, and legislation is quickly moving through Sacramento this summer to toughen drone/firefighting laws.

Earlier this week the state senate approved a bill which would grant civil immunity to any emergency responder for damage to a drone that was interfering at a fire scene. The bill would also make it a crime to recklessly operate a drone in a manner that prevents or delays the extinguishment of a fire. Violators could be punished by imprisonment in a county jail of up to six months and/or a fine of up to $5,000. The bill will soon head to the State Assembly for consideration.