drones in Spokane halting water drop operations

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fast99

Pre-takeoff checklist
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fast99
News reported 26 drones were flying in the TFR area. Air drops were halted, unsure if they have been started back up yet. People doing this are beyond ignorant. I really hope they are caught and tossed in jail for a long time. FAA needs to look at this and figure out a way to stop it. Obviously people can't control themselfs.

For information 3 fires all started about the same time surrounding north Spokane. One person has been arrested for arson. So far 650-700 buildings and homes are completely gone. Forcast is light winds until late Thursday into Friday then into high 20's. Only 1 fire is partially contained. Have 4 friends in the fire zones, so far their home are ok.
 
It's been wild. Was at the racetrack (directly upwind) this weekend and you could watch the plume grow by the minute when it started.

Fortunately, I live 10 miles crosswind from where it started, so while a lot of people we know had to evacuate, etc, we were OK except for an 8 hour precautionary power cut Saturday.
 
fast99 said:
News reported 26 drones were flying in the TFR area. Air drops were halted, unsure if they have been started back up yet. People doing this are beyond ignorant. I really hope they are caught and tossed in jail for a long time. FAA needs to look at this and figure out a way to stop it. Obviously people can't control themselfs.
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The FAA has almost zero control over the drone situation. According to Google AI, there are an estimated 855,000 registered drones in the US, but over 2,000,000 million estimated sold. Even if the FAA wanted to, they don't have the manpower to regulate truly regulate them.

In our area AG drones are becoming a bigger and bigger problem. I went to a demo recently put on by a local AG supplier and drone dealer. I asked him how many of your customers do you think are actually getting the Part 107 license (which they provide training for). He estimated about 25%. The other 75% are just out there winging it with zero regard to aviation regulations and other aircraft. We've had them spotted right off the end of the runway, other manned crop dusters have had close calls with them.

Then you get the average teenager/young adult/old adult with their new birthday present and the nobody can tell me what to do attitude. Its nothing short of a miracle that the number of drone/aircraft collisions is as low as it is, and hasn't caused a fatal accident yet.
 
MIFlyer said:
It's been wild. Was at the racetrack (directly upwind) this weekend and you could watch the plume grow by the minute when it started.

Fortunately, I live 10 miles crosswind from where it started, so while a lot of people we know had to evacuate, etc, we were OK except for an 8 hour precautionary power cut Saturday.
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yes it has
when first started had no idea how close fire was to my home. All I could see was huge plumes of smoke and a lot of it. Tossed a sprinkler on the roof. Turns out fire was a mile away but I was packed and ready to leave.

You know this isn't over. Fires won't be extinguished by Friday when winds are supposed to kick up again. Wind from the north city may get it again, south Deer Park may be next.
 
We're in Coeur d'Alene, about 25 miles due east of Spokane. Even at this distance, the smoke is intense. We've had AQI number approaching 300, the dividing line between 'very unhealthy', and 'hazardous'. Fortunately, even occasional use of the air purifiers is enough the keep the air quality in our house at a good level. We get a lot of wildfires here in the summer, so this year I bought an indoor particle counter, just to get a better sense of what the indoor air quality really is on the bad smoke days.

The news broadcasts from Spokane do include a drumbeat of 'Get the friggin' drones out of the air so the fire bombers can fly!' messaging. At least one or two operators have been caught, and the police promise prosecution, and FAA fines that could potentially reach into 6 figures.
 
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Dan Thomas said:
Drone control: LEO's with shotguns. What else can you do?
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The local feds actually had some on hand. Spokane hosted the Egyptian FIFA team and deployed some RF jamming technology. Currently being used around fire perimeter I'm told.
Definitely rough here. Hoping these fires can be knocked down before Friday's wind, which luckily isn't forecast as bad.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Drone control: LEO's with shotguns. What else can you do?
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Shooting down drones would be as illegal for LEOs as it is for us.

But if there is ever a case to be made for drone vigilanteism, this would be it. The big three Spokane fires have been burning for days, and all three are still uncontained. They need those fire bombers--and we have a lot of them out here--flying. New evacuation orders are still being issued, none have been rescinded to date, so there are no civilians are in the area. If I ran the circus, I'd declare it a free-fire zone for engaging any flying bits of plastic.

Glad to hear they have some jamming technology deployed, I wasn't aware of that.
 
As much as I despise the need, LEOs are allowed to pull out the shotgun with buckshot:


Because the fires are all TFRd, this ruling solves the problem.

Colorado had an all-day drone seminar this past weekend hosting the LEOs and other state/local emergency agencies and I'm sure this was a major topic. I was invited but had a conflict. Haven't had a chance to talk to the others who did attend.

There really are some advantages to Civil Air Patrol as we're part of the Colorado's emergency network. We're lots cheaper than the State's Pilatus, too.
 
Local news on drones in fire TFR
Picture of Binford Drone Blaster 500TM
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Some of the news broadcasts are showing drone footage. As slow as the FAA works doubt anyone outside law enforcement has permission. Did hear the drone numbers were even higher than my first post, somewhere in the 50 range. Someone need to make a laser sapper for these things.

Law enforcement announced they caught at least 2. Courts need to make an example of them.

The Spokane area has had a rash of arson fires [2-3 today so far] since Sunday both inside the city and out. There's a lot of sick people here.
 
If you read the proposal - NPRM - it’s not about guns. Actually a pretty controlled action. Understand the frustration but as long as 107 controls them, it’s a legal issue that opens the door to our ops too.
 
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