Idaho Firefighters Ask Drone Owners To Stay Away From Fires

Every summer, residents in Boise are forced to deal with one of the most annoying things ever: air pollution from forest fires. Obviously dealing with some smokey air is far less of a problem than many might be facing due to fires, but either way, it isn't nice.

States like Idaho, Oregon, Washington and especially California are used to dealing with these massive fires and the only thing standing between the fire and total destruction are the brave men and women who fight them.

It's no secret--forest fires can really "ruin" the quality of life in the Treasure Valley when they get out of hand in the West. Some wind can blow up forest fire smoke from hundreds and even thousands of miles away.

Supporting fire fighters and funding programs that protect them and their families is important--but there's one thing that fire officials are now asking of Idahoans that might be the biggest help of all.

Keep your drones grounded.

The fire officials have shared that some folks have decided to fly their drones over or near fires to capture images or see what's going on-- it's actually totally hindering capabilities to fight fires.

In a recent report by Idaho's News Channel 7 , the Idaho Department of Lands shared that a civilian drone was the reason that airborne firefighting had to wait-- once it was grounded, the firefighters could do their jobs.

Don't forget--these fires are emergency scenes and flying drones around them is illegal.