After several high profile cases where Cal Fire operations had to be suspended due to unauthorized unmanned aircraft activity, the Redding City Council took the issue up at its meeting Tuesday night.
The aircraft, more commonly known as drones, have shut down operations several times statewide in the last few seeks. Fire Chief Gerry Grey told the council that hobby drones can cause a dangerous situation. He says there have already been two cases within the city limits.
“In both of those cases there was no mix of aircraft and drones,” he said.
But he says if a drone is spotted over any fire situation, the incident commander will be notified and any air operations will be halted.
Airports Manager Rod Dinger said that because of FAA regulations hobby drones can not fly within five miles of either Redding airport.
“So you can see that takes up a significant portion of the city of Redding boundaries, not to mention our friends to the south in the city of Anderson,” he said.
So far the only action taken against a drone owner has been a warning, but the FAA and Cal Fire both have the authority to levy fines or jail time if someone is hurt because of a drone operation.