Besides high temperatures, wind and dry conditions, Australian firefighters have one more thing to worry about this summer: Drones.

A mid-air collision between a civilian drone and a firefighting plane or helicopter could be devastating, and drones spotted in the airspace around fires could force aircraft to be grounded, suspending the relief effort.

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) launched a social media and public awareness campaign on Sunday to tackle the issue before the country's fire season begins in earnest. The agency is warning that drone users caught flying near bushfires could face steep fines for putting firefighting aircraft and firefighters at risk.

Australian authorities came to CASA to express their concerns after a number of incidents last summer when drones were seen hovering around fire outbreaks, CASA spokesperson Peter Gibson told Mashable Australia. During the recent U.S. fire season, there were a number of serious reports of recreational drones flying near fires, he pointed out. "It was happening over there and it could happen over here," he added.

During bushfires in California in July, the U.S. Forest Service said that drones seen in the area forced the grounding of a number of planes that had been deployed to fight the blazes, NBC reported, causing significant delay to the fire response.

Drones users are attracted to the drama of a blaze, Gibson speculated. "I think the idea is to get video or pictures of what is a spectacular — in a bad way, of course — situation," he said. "It's high-tech sightseeing."

Cheaper, more accessible drones also mean that the risk is becoming more significant as greater numbers of amateur operators get their hands on the devices. "There are more drones than ever, so we needed to do something to educate the public," Gibson said.

While he admitted that it can be difficult to identify who flew the drone, if caught by CASA, the culprit could face a A$9,000 fine for putting people, property or aircraft at risk. If a case is deemed sufficiently serious, criminal charges are also a possibility.

According to current CASA regulation, those flying drones for recreation must keep them in line-of-sight, not closer than 30 metres (98.43 feet) to vehicles, boats, buildings or people, or 5.5 kilometres (3.42 miles) of an airfield.

A number of bushfires raging across Australia in early October have already caused devastation. Houses have been lost in blazes north of Melbourne, The Age reported, and firefighters have fought to contain fires on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.