Drone forces firefighting aircraft at Goodwin Fire to land; Yavapai County Sheriff's Office investigating

BrieAnna J. Frank | The Republic | azcentral.com

A drone flying near Prescott on Wednesday caused all firefighting aircraft battling the Goodwin Fire to be grounded sooner than they normally would have, officials said.

The drone was spotted in the sky near the fire just before 7 p.m., said Gabrielle Kenton, a spokeswoman for the fire's incident-management team.

A no-fly zone had been ordered in the area, which includes small commercial flights and unmanned aircraft such as drones, which can record video or take pictures of the terrain below.

"I know people want to be able to see what the situation is, particularly people who have homes in the area," Kenton said. "But if drones are flying, we shut down air operations because it's just too dangerous with the fire and the smoke."

The aircraft fighting the fire typically stop operations around sunset, so the aircraft would not have remained up much longer, but still, the work was forced to stop sooner than expected, she said.

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8 aircraft grounded

Kenton said there could have been even more serious consequences if the drone had been spotted earlier in the day and shut down air firefighting efforts for a longer stretch of time.

"Had it occurred earlier this morning when the fire was really roaring, it might have had more of an impact. But it's hard to say what might have happened and what did happen," Kenton said. "I don't think it'll cause a serious problem now — I hope."

There were six helicopters and two air attack planes working on combating the fire that were grounded, Kenton said.

It's unclear when the aircraft will begin operations again, with Kenton adding that officials haven't confirmed whether the drone is still in the air.

Kenton said the danger of drones is that pilots have low visibility in the fire area because of the smoke and flames, and are less likely to spot a drone and prevent a collision.

"If they know there might be a drone and they can't see it, then they're going to have to get out of the area," Kenton said.

Under Arizona law, flying a drone or other unmanned aircraft in a no-fly zone is a class 6 felony on the first offense, with more severe penalty for repeat offenders.

The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office is investigating the drone's origin, Kenton said.

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