The Government of British Columbia will attempt to stop the dangerous use of drones near wildfires with tough new rules and a public awareness campaign to keep the public safe.

Mike Morris, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, outlined the four-point plan today:

“Our message is simple. If your drone is in the sky above an active wildfire, you are grounding firefighting aircraft, putting lives at risk and may cause the fire to spread,” said Morris. “This is
completely unacceptable behaviour and there will be legal consequences for anyone who gets caught.”

Morris’s announcement was triggered by two incidents in August when firefighting aircraft were forced to immediately halt all operations on wildfires because someone was flying a drone (also known as an unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV) in the area. Most notably, on Aug. 16, eight helicopters and five fixed-wing aircraft that were supporting firefighting crews on the Testalinda Creek fire were grounded for over four hours while the fire continued to spread.

Current federal regulations explicitly prohibit the use of drones of any size near a wildfire. The current maximum fine for an infraction is $25,000 and violators could spend up to 18 months in jail.

However, legislative amendments will be introduced in spring 2016 to strengthen and clarify the provisions of the provincial Wildfire Act and that may apply to the operation of drones.

“Drone operators need to understand that drone use near a wildfire is extremely hazardous and drones operators must be aware of the rules and the penalties for not following them,” said Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson.