Last month, firefighters in Southern California had their mission interrupted by a stray drone, which blocked the aerial path of a plane carrying gallons of flame-retardant to the site of a forest fire, delaying efforts to quell the forest fire and costing the department $15,000.
The department presumably turned back its airplane because it’s illegal to damage someone’s drone, even if you have good cause. To avoid future disruptions of firefighting activity, California state senators introduced a bill this week that would give firefighters the legal prerogative to disable or destroy civilian drones when necessary.
The bill would also grant drone-incapacitating privileges to air ambulance operators and those on search-and-rescue missions. It states that hopefully “jamming” technology will allow for drones to be disabled with minimal damage, and that “warnings and public education efforts could ensure that the safest, least-damaging methods for avoiding or disabling unauthorized drones will be the primary methods used in these crises.”
