"This is not just harmless fun. This is incredibly dangerous," said Chris Thomas, public information officer for the Palisades fire. "Seriously, what if that plane had gone down? It could have taken out a row of homes. It could have taken out a school."
"Because of safety, we have to get all the aircraft out of the area until we know the drones are gone," he said. "So that is very dangerous, because it takes water-dropping capability away from the fire."
"If we have to take helicopters out of an area and the wind catches one of those cinders in that area and lifts it up, we could ignite a whole other area," he added.
The FAA released a statement on Thursday warning drone operators that temporary flight restrictions are currently in place around all major regional fires.
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