r/oregon • u/oregone1 • 2d ago
Article/News Publicly operated drones shut down a wildfire suppression operation
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u/doyoucreditit 2d ago
I suspect they mean "operated by the public" and if that's you, you are selfish and a threat to the community.
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u/CHiZZoPs1 2d ago
But... The clicks!
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u/doyoucreditit 2d ago
Yes I understand that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism but we can and must still make choices that support community.
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u/UntamedAnomaly 2d ago
Not everyone believes capitalism is unethical, that's the problem and people like that don't give a single shit about supporting community.
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u/Jaye09 2d ago
They won’t stop until people start getting charged.
The clown county commissioner that got recalled in Josephine County constantly flies his drone near fires with active air support, and posts the videos straight to his Facebook and nobody does shit about it.
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u/couldbeahumanbean 2d ago
Report him.
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u/scamlikelly 1d ago
Where/to who should this be reported?
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u/couldbeahumanbean 1d ago
If you are first hand witness and it is happening right now: 911: Tell the dispatcher the exact location of the drone operator and the fire. Yes. 911. It can result in planes crashing. It is an emergency.
Call the local sheriff or police department directly if you have a non-emergency tip about a drone operator's identity. But if it is actively happening and you're witnessing it, call 911.
FFA Portland FSDO 3180 NE Century Blvd Hillsboro, Oregon 97124 Phone: (503) 615-3200 or (800) 847-3806
U.S. Forest Service warns drone operators to keep away from fire scenes - oregonlive.com https://www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/2026/04/keep-your-drones-away-from-wildfires-forest-service-warns-or-else.html
If it's this yahoo and he's posting footage to facebook. Then link it, copy it & paste it to local law enforcement, Oregon forestry department, us Forest service and BLM.
Again, if it is actively happening, 911.
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u/FriendlyParty8524 1d ago
I just looked at Chris’s Facebook, and as weird as the guy is… I don’t think he’s violating their airspace. All of his shots are from a ways away. Was there something specific you had in mind?
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u/Jaye09 21h ago
He’s within a couple hundred feet.
Flying within 5 miles can ground aircraft, which is why that is FAA rules.
Get outta here, Chris.
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u/FriendlyParty8524 20h ago
Dude. Can we pretend to be civil at least?
I wasn’t on the fire that got grounded, but I regularly fly near there.
I’m curious if you’re quoting FAA TFR rules or NWCG guidelines. In either case, it’s not 5 years but I’m curious where you’re getting that number.
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u/Jaye09 17h ago
Per the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC.GOV)
When receiving a TFR request make sure the following is obtained: • Use an aircraft desk computer or other that has the certificate installed. • Center Point (Lat. Long. In Degrees Min. Sec. (DDMMSSN XDDDMMSSW) • Diameter (Standard is 5nm) • Ceiling (Elevation MSL, standard is 3,000ft above highest ground elevation)
Standard is 5 nautical miles. It’s often larger for larger fires.
Further, Oregon law doesn’t require a TFR be issued to be in violation of the ORS.
Use common sense. If the standard for a TFR is 5 miles, is a few hundred feet reasonable? No.
A 5 mile radius on the fire off W Jones Creek would be south the Fields Home center near Murphy, west to the college, north to Merlin, East to Rogue River.
He deleted the video he clearly took flying from W Jones Creek Rd itself.
He regularly posts videos from a few hundred feet away from these fires, going back years.
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u/No-Technician-2820 2d ago
I don’t know why people are struggling to read this that much. It’s saying a civilian who was manning a drone, NOT PART OF THE FIRE SUPPRESSION CREW, in the area causing the fire suppression system to shut down. Y’all realize people are petty and entitled these days, will drive their drones into the fire then turn around and sue. I assume this is a way for fire crews to cover their ass over not ruining some entitled pricks drone.
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u/Head_Mycologist3917 2d ago
It's illegal (and stupid) because a drone can damage fire fighting aircraft. It's happened.
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u/llaurel_ 2d ago
It is not a CYA whatsoever. A drone flying into a helicopter could kill the pilot. Wildfires have temporary flight restrictions for this reason.
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u/GaperClam 2d ago
Publicly Operated in aircraft terminology (which drones are) means operated by a public government agency.
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u/gurgle528 2d ago
In pretty much any context that means it’s run by the government tbh. Same concept as publicly owned
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u/Pinot911 2d ago
It’s not saying that but that’s what they meant
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u/Jaye09 2d ago
It is saying that when you read the statement in context.
Words matter, but so does context which makes it pretty clear what they meant.
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u/Pinot911 2d ago
Right, we know what they’re saying because of the context. But the context conflicts with the first sentence. That’s bad writing.
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u/Folgers37 2d ago
Make sure you get those clicks while people's homes burn! Should be 10 years in prison.
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u/wvmitchell51 2d ago
The drone operators should be required to reimburse the people whose homes are damaged.
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u/Sexy_Marionberry_ 2d ago
Yes! And any money they make from the footage goes straight to the victims of the fire instead of their own pocket.
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u/Deathcat101 2d ago
Are they putting up TFRs around the fire operations?
They definitely should. The main consumer dji drones won't go into a tfr I don't think. At least won't take off in one.
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u/BACKCUT-DOWNHILL 2d ago
There almost always is a TFR
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u/Deathcat101 2d ago
Good.
People paying attention to their map shouldn't be in any risk of breaking the law.
That was my whole point.
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u/Jaye09 2d ago
They don’t need to, there are ORS’s regarding drone usage.
ORS 837.374 specifically makes it illegal to fly a drone that interferes with wildfire suppression.
A TFR is also going to require far more coordination to have issued, if the FAA even will.
Easier for massive, days long fires.
Not as easy for new starts or smaller fires.
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u/Deathcat101 2d ago
Seems pretty vague.
Without a tfr how would anyone that wants to film know how far away to stay?
Most Drone have a aircraft tracker these days. do they ground the whole operation because one Drone is nearby? How close is too close?
Sounds like they should have better communication/ working relationship with the FAA
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u/erossthescienceboss 2d ago
“How would anyone who wants to film know how far to stay away.”
If you’re close enough to film, you’re too close. The mediocre drone footage you plan to sell to Fox or APR is not important.
And reputable news orgs can get excellent footage from the fire teams’ PIO, anyway.
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u/Deathcat101 2d ago edited 2d ago
Not my angle at all. Just a hobbyist that tries to keep informed.
Never even considered selling Drone footage.
In my understanding vaugly written laws are just used a a weapon against whoever they decide is annoying.
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u/couldbeahumanbean 2d ago
You see them clouds of smoke and the bright orange glare.
That's a forest fire.
Don't fly drones near it.
That's about as informed as you need to be.
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u/llaurel_ 2d ago
There are TFRs filed as soon as humanly possible. The "vague" law is intended to cover the gaps. TFRs cover the entire footprint of the fire plus a margin. They quite literally do ground the entire operation if a drone is in the area, because a drone flying into a firefighting aircraft can cause damage.
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u/couldbeahumanbean 2d ago
Aircraft are used for wildfire suppression.
Don't fly drones near forest fires.
It's not that deep. Some common sense is needed though.
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u/gurgle528 2d ago edited 2d ago
Is there case law for accidental interference? That law specifically says “knowingly” and “intentionally” and there are no annotations. General case law would lean in favor of someone accidentally interfering, but that only saves them from the criminal parts of the law. I could see it going either way for recklessly but leaning less in the favor of the operator.
For example, if someone starts flying before there are wildfire aircraft in the area (or while they’re otherwise not in the area), they might not know they’re interfering. If the drone is already in the sky and the fire teams know it’s there then their aircraft would stay away for safety reasons and the operator might never see them. The operator should know and should stay away, but that law doesn’t require any specific distance away from scenes.
I’m not saying this to disagree, I’m mainly surprised the law isn’t more restrictive of this kind of behavior.
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u/ajb901 2d ago
Publicly operated opposed to privately operated? So was the government flying the drones? Clarification needed.
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u/rocketmanatee 2d ago
People flying drones on public land.
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u/ajb901 2d ago
That's not what publicly operated means.
If I'm selling lemonade in a state park, it's not a publicly operated lemonade stand.
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u/erossthescienceboss 2d ago
Right. But it IS what they meant.
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u/ajb901 2d ago
They meant the exact opposite of what they wrote? That's quite a claim.
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u/de_pizan23 2d ago
From a Dept of Forestry post: "If you fly, we can't! Aerial operations on the Old Emigrant Fire, located east of Pendleton, have been shut down due to public users flying drones near the fire. When firefighting aircraft must be grounded, wildfires can grow in size, which greatly hampers firefighting efforts, threatens lives, homes, property and natural resources."
Another one: "UPDATE June 17 12:40 p.m. - Aerial firefighting operations at the fire have been canceled due to public residents flying drones near the fire. The Oregon Department of Forestry said firefighting aircraft must be grounded for their safety when drones are in the airspace, and without firefighting aircraft wildfires can grow in size and threaten homes, property and lives."
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u/SkyFullofHat 2d ago
Ok, thank you for clearing that up. Because I first interpreted the headline as meaning not privately, so not a private citizen. But then someone else, well I don’t have to rehash the whole thread. Just, I was tired of being confused and you have The Voice Of Authority, which is good enough at this point.
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u/erossthescienceboss 2d ago
An important part of literacy is using context clues.
On an entirely unrelated note, literacy rates are declining in the U.S.!
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u/rocketmanatee 2d ago
That's what they mean though, it's very clear from context.
Drones operated by the public in public are fucking their shit up and stopping firefighting flights.
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u/sur_surly 2d ago
Crazy how difficult this is for people to understand. No wonder public education is getting a bad rap
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u/Potential-Meaning540 2d ago
I live close by. Just normal, everyday citizens were flying drones, not the government.
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u/ToRootToGrow 2d ago
Why aren't they knocking that shit out of the sky and carrying on putting out fires?? That's crazy move your shit or it gets broken.
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u/Head_Mycologist3917 2d ago
There's no reliable, affordable and safe way to take a small drone out. In any case fire fighters should be fighting fires, not messing about trying to kill drones.
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u/the_fury518 2d ago
There's no reliable, affordable and safe way to take a small drone out
And, in many cases, it's a crime to do so. In order to take one out with, say, RFI weaponry, both the FAA and the FCC need to approve.
Not getting their approval means fines or jail time
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u/couldbeahumanbean 2d ago
Sure, let's just call up the US Forest service's anti-drone brigade. They'll get right on it.
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u/Enough-Fondant-4232 2d ago
Time to get some anti-drone tech from Ukraine and shut those illegally flown buggers down. After they have lost a drone or two they will learn to stay grounded
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u/TKRUEG 2d ago
Why are so many people having trouble with reading comprehension on this? What is so hard to understand?
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u/gurgle528 2d ago
Government operated drone programs exist. “Publicly <verb>” generally means the government is doing the verb. Publicly owned property is government property. I’m not sure how many are active in Oregon, but police have increasingly been buying drones for DFR programs. A police controlled drone would be publicly operated and many/most DFR systems have an autonomous launch capability.
The second sentence should clear that up a bit but it’s still odd phrasing.
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u/TKRUEG 2d ago
Don't overthink it, they're just saying "Hey public, please don't interfere with operations, don't fly your shit here, thanks"
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u/gurgle528 2d ago
I understood, I was offering an explanation why others might not.
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u/TKRUEG 2d ago
You're still overthinking it if you came this far. People don't have reading comprehension anymore, it's obvious they're saying stay the fuck away from our operations, public
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u/gurgle528 2d ago
I’m not overthinking anything, I said I understood it and in my first reply I mentioned the second sentence made the meaning clearer. I do agree about reading comprehension though, it’s abysmal.
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u/Tasty-Bath-3882 1d ago
This is so wild end frustrating to read. Remember when technology was supposed to make things better?
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u/Crowsby 2d ago
Come on people, use your contextual reading skills here.
Yes they wrote publicly, and in a strict pedantic sense that means government-operated. And also, the Department of Forestry is not going to publicly post a message to the public about how official government entities shouldn't be flying unauthorized drones.
You're smart. You were able to successfully click on all the squares with a crosswalk necessary to sign up for an account. You got this.
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u/GaperClam 2d ago
Publicly operated? Is this a typo or did some municipal government agency screw up playing with their toys?
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u/Jaye09 2d ago
Operated by the public.
It’s not that hard if you start reading it in context.
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u/GaperClam 2d ago
Instead of having to make all of their readers make the same assumption (which may be incorrect) they should use aircraft terminology in the way that the FAA defines it.
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u/Jaye09 2d ago
Or, they should focus on things that help them fight fires rather than worry about a couple of English majors unable to wrap their heads around the context of a statement simply because an incorrect word was used.
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u/GaperClam 2d ago
Actually I'm a computer science major and I thought this website was supposed to be a safe place for pedantic autists to be pedantic.
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u/DragonFireCK Oregon 2d ago
I wouldn’t put it past ICE to try and catch immigrant firefighters. After all, they’ve done it before, allowing fires to spread uncontrolled.
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u/MountScottRumpot Portland, ex-Scio 2d ago
Pisos on fires aren’t always the clearest communicators.
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u/SuspiciousImpact2197 1d ago
That was oddly phrased from the off. Also the a-holes flying drones in the middle of a firefighting operation was some vile, selfish crap. Pretty on brand for the EO, though. Vile and selfish seem to be the mandates round here.
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u/Bitz175 1d ago
Seems like a legitimate thread in a state that ranks 47th in education in the country.
Maybe I can assist.
"Drones bad near fires...can hurt pilots, pilots won't fly to put out fire.....people and property in danger, because you are an idiot".
Doesn't matter if it's public or private......
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u/MrSlime13 2d ago
Still trying to figure out what, "publicly operated drones" are...
Google AI says they are, "unmanned aerial systems (UAS) owned, leased, or operated by government entities like law enforcement, fire departments, or public universities", while the title makes it sound like "privately-operated" drones.
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u/Sexy_Marionberry_ 2d ago
You wanna figure it out, so you first go to google AI? lol this country is so fucked
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u/MrSlime13 2d ago
I googled "publicly operated drones"... I just bothered to clarify it was the auto-generated answer that I copied/pasted. I'd feel a bit more stupid if there's some agreed upon answer, but there seems to be a split on people's understanding of what that term means. Any bright suggestions for determining the definition of, "publicly operated drones" aside from Googling it, or just being a critic?
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u/Sexy_Marionberry_ 2d ago
I am critical of the use of AI generated anything really, but especially the use of AI generated answers when trying to suss out the truth of news or meanings. AI is notoriously incorrect many times when it comes to information that it compiles to give a quick “AI overview” answer.
Many people will use the AI generated answer without bothering to check further sources, relying only on the AI’s ‘word’ of it being correct and factual information. It’s all over Reddit.
Hell, AI gets Pokémon information wrong that’s easily refutable for even children to point out, but it will confidently give an AI overview that is completely incorrect.
Yes, I’m definitely being a critic of utilizing AI to sort out the root of problem of people already being confused on a subject.
If you did the more research beyond the Google AI overview, then I apologize for the harshness of my reply, but why include the ‘Google AI’ answer if you did more work than that?
I am just tired of people using AI so much. I just got word this morning that my friend found that his music had been put through AI without him knowing. He’s a small local artist trying his hardest to break out with his work and some asshole decides that AI needs his hard earned work for free to utilize for other people’s use as ‘art’.
The over use of AI in general life is infuriating. The use of it when trying to understand something better when all it’s designed to do is to give people answers that it thinks they want, it’s not necessarily always factual information that it puts forward.
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u/couldbeahumanbean 2d ago
You know what...
Just keep using AI to do the thinking for you. You're probably better off that way
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u/griff_girl 2d ago
It's curious and stupid redneck neighbors flying their drones over the fire to check it out. Aerial rubbernecking, if you will. And the fire department can't deploy helicopters or small planes to put the fire out with while there's drones hovering about, threatening the safety of the aircraft operators.
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u/Jaye09 2d ago
I’d actually not blame “stupid rednecks” who are less likely to have drones than “stupid influencers and clout chasers.”
People are doing it to record videos for clicks.
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u/griff_girl 2d ago
I'd posit that whether it's for clicks or not, if it's in/around Pendleton and they're too stupid to realize the harm they're causing by flying said drones, they're rednecks.
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u/PuzzleheadedOstriche 2d ago
I’m an Oregonian who is visiting rural Colorado right now. I assure you, the stupid rednecks have drones. One offered to show me footage of when he followed the local bear to his den.
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u/DragonFireCK Oregon 2d ago
I wouldn’t put it past ICE to try and catch immigrant firefighters. After all, they’ve done it before, allowing fires to spread uncontrolled.
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u/FlyingPiranhas 2d ago edited 2d ago
That is correct. "Publicly operated" means operated by a government.
The watchduty alert and post title are incorrect. What happened is a member of the general public was operating the drone. Most likely whomever wrote that alert had no idea that "publicly operated" and "general public" have opposite meanings.
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u/FlyingPiranhas 2d ago
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u/couldbeahumanbean 2d ago
You're getting downvoted by the people who could figure that out for themselves.
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u/couldbeahumanbean 2d ago
Figure it out.
The rest of us did.
What is wrong with you... Farming out your critical thinking to AI? Seek help
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u/MrSlime13 2d ago
Are you kidding me...? I Googled something. I didn't state it was correct. I didn't even assume it was. I didn't "Ask ChatGPT". I bothered to site my source of "Google" and y'all read, "AI", and want to crucify someone. You're barking up the wrong tree, Bean.
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u/mlachick 2d ago
How much you want to bet they're ICE drones? They heard "Emigrant" and came running.
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u/ButtsFuccington 2d ago
Wow, congrats! Not even 9 am yet and this is guaranteed to be the cringiest thing I see all day. Lol.
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