At least three drones flown by community members forced firefighters to temporarily stop operation of firefighting aircrafts above the Bain fire on Tuesday, May 18.
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Capt. John Clingingsmith with CAL FIRE/Riverside County said firefighting aircraft were grounded for about a half hour – 10 minutes each time – because of the drone intrusions.
As of about 3:30 p.m., the vehicles were again working to subdue the more than 600-acre wildfire that injured four people and forced evacuations in Jurupa Valley and Riverside.
Ground and air resources must work together to extinguish wildfires, Clingingsmith said, urging community members not to fly drones or other personal aircraft in the wildfire zone.
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“If they’re flying, we can’t,” he said.
The Bain fire was at 0% containment around 3:30 p.m.
Fire crews have encountered issues with unauthorized drones in the past.
In January 2025, a drone illegally flew above the deadly Palisades fire, grounded a firefighting plane that drops more than 1,500 gallons of water at a time after colliding with the aircraft, leaving a hole in the plane’s left wing.
The drone pilot, 57-year-old Pete Tripp Akemann, was sentenced to 15 days in federal prison and 30 days of at-home detention and ordered to pay $156,000 in fines and restitution.
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