SPOKANE — U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is warning of the danger civilian hobby drones have on firefighting efforts.
Already in 2015, the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior have had to ground firefighting aircraft 13 times because of drone activity near wildfires.
Cantwell plans to hold a press conference on Friday in Spokane to discuss drone dangers and to call on federal agencies to work closely together to protect air crews and firefighters from interference from drones.
She says a drone colliding with a windshield, engine or flight controls of a firefighting aircraft could be catastrophic.
