Firefighters battling the Cedar Fire are facing yet another challenge as they work to contain the blaze, which has already charred more than 45,900 acres: drones.
It’s currently illegal for someone to operate a drone over the Cedar Fire. Temporary flight restrictions are in place so air attacks— or the use of aircraft to fight wildfires— can go on. Despite that, people are still flying their drones and it’s a problem.
"The reason being that when the drones are flown up, the air attack cannot come into the area," explains Adam Wolf who is with Navajo County. "It’s just a safety hazard, so they have to be grounded, which means we can’t drop the water, we can’t drop fire retardant that we need in those areas."
Wolf doesn’t know how many drones have been spotted, but it’s enough to affect firefighting efforts.
Still, some progress is being made. The blaze is now 42 percent contained—a 20 percent jump from Thursday.
Rita Baysinger is the Cedar Fire public information officer. She says the fire is still active on the southeast side, just below the site of last year’s Playground Fire.
"So probably around 2:00 you might start seeing some smoke in the air and maybe some small columns," she said. "They predict that the fire may make some short range runs and there may be some spotting on that part of the fire."
Meanwhile, she says, pre-evacuation orders remain in effect for the nearby communities of Show Low and Pinteop-Lakeside. The cause of the Cedar Fire remains under investigation.
