Firefighters are making pleas for people to stop flying drones near wildfires.
Getting that bird's eye view can put lives at risk. It's a problem that's popping up across Colorado.
If caught the drone pilot can go to jail or pay thousands in fines.
Near Durango a helicopter was forced to land because of a drone as the Lightner Creek fire scorched more than 400 acres.
I'm skeptical for two reasons. First, drones are about the same size and weight as a large bird. It is unlikely that collision with an aircraft would cause serious damage unless it went in the intake, which is the same risk as hitting a bird.
Second, there is some evidence that BLM firefighters have been setting fires on public lands around the country for the past few years in order to keep their funding up from Congress. All the media hysteria about not flying drones near fires is because BLM does not want to be filmed and caught in the act.