Flying around a house fire is wrong, right?

[Bobert1850]

So there was a fire in my town last night. Right away my brothers called me to get in the air and I told him I couldn't because it's probably a TFR situation. Well, I was just on Facebook and noticed someone posted a video from a drone. I was just wondering what everyone's opinions are on this before I say something. I'm not looking to make the guy feel bad, just let him know it was a bad idea, if it was. I'll try and get the videos url and share it so you guys can see. He did do a good job of filming from the few seconds I saw.

 

[Bobert1850]

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[MotorCycle-Man]

IF....they had to call in a medical emergency helicopter..for say a burn victim or a fire fighter suffering from being hit by a falling object..and he was up around the area...it would be a Violation and he could get in serious problems...Let the new crews do that from the ground......No body has business doing that and i sure would not do it...I'm glad that you never got up and flew it !

 

[mdowney58]

He also appears to have flown over people below

 

[WV. Rootman]

It is a violation to FAA rules. They were wrong.

 

[kndll]

It's possible he had permission from the fire department , maybe they want video for training purposes ?

 

[BigAl07]

Unless you know for a fact he did or did not have authorization from the emergency services you'd be better off not getting involved.

Even if they did not there's not a lot you can (or should) do. While it may very well be a bad idea to fly around a scene like this (potential for interfering with Emergency Services) it's not illegal unless there is a TFR generated. It would be very rare for a house fire to warrant such an action. TFR's affect all aircraft from the ground up to the clouds so a house fire does not get a TFR. TFR's are not easy to get put in place and they require a crap load of paperwork, signatures, and phone calls to get put into place.

While it may have been "legal" that doesn't make it a good idea.

 

[sar104]

So there was a fire in my town last night. Right away my brothers called me to get in the air and I told him I couldn't because it's probably a TFR situation. Well, I was just on Facebook and noticed someone posted a video from a drone. I was just wondering what everyone's opinions are on this before I say something. I'm not looking to make the guy feel bad, just let him know it was a bad idea, if it was. I'll try and get the videos url and share it so you guys can see. He did do a good job of filming from the few seconds I saw.

They don't put up TFRs for structure fires, but if the flight was not coordinated with emergency services (such as a news agency UAV) and if it had been perceived to interfere with the emergency efforts in any way then it would be in violation of the law. Probably a poor idea overall.

 

[Just_nick]

How about helping in some way instead of trying to focus on some dumb shot? "ZOMG, gotta get those likes on Instagram with my video!"

 

[PointGeorge]

Consider reaching out to you local FD to see if you could act in coordination with them.
Perhaps start out offering to shoot one of their drills so they could review it and give feedback to participants.
This would allow you to built a relationship so in the event of an actual fire or other action you could work with their blessing.
BTW I never met a firefighter or medic that didn't like having videos or photos of them in action, assuming you didn't interfere.

 

[Bobert1850]

So I messaged the guy and after talking a bit, he basically told me to get lost and I had no right telling him it is frowned upon. That really bugs me

 

[Bobert1850]

 

[Canyon Mike]

So there was a fire in my town last night. Right away my brothers called me to get in the air and I told him I couldn't because it's probably a TFR situation. Well, I was just on Facebook and noticed someone posted a video from a drone. I was just wondering what everyone's opinions are on this before I say something. I'm not looking to make the guy feel bad, just let him know it was a bad idea, if it was. I'll try and get the videos url and share it so you guys can see. He did do a good job of filming from the few seconds I saw.

This is an example of why we're faced with more and more restrictions.

 

[BigAl07]

This is an example of why we're faced with more and more restrictions.

That pretty much nailed it right there!!!

 

[Bobert1850]

Is there anything more I can do about it? This guy really got under my skin. Maybe if you guys went and commented on his YouTube video?

 

[Hendricks]

Eventually, if he keeps up this behaviour, his luck will run out.
There are those people out there with the money to purchase a drone but not the common sense to operate it responsibly.

In Canada, if you are caught anywhere near a 'first responder' situation(dwelling fire, motor vehicle accident,hostage situation, etc.), you will be fined $3,000 and your drone taken.
Period.

Unfortunately, when the drone regulations were established last year, Transport Canada downloaded responsibility for enforcing them to local police departments.
And those guys are way too busy attending to these incidents to go after irresponsible drone pilots.

But here's an example of how a bad drone pilot may get caught:

About a month ago, there was a major oil refinery fire in my town.
The refinery property is a 'no fly zone', yet, at the height of the fire, some drone pilot flew over the oil tanks and hovered overhead shooting video.

This same individual wanted to be recognized and, when he allowed a major news outlet to use his video, he wanted his name right there in the top right hand corner as a credit.

I wonder if he realizes that he has just identified himself as the pilot of the drone shooting the video?!

All the police have to do now is find this person and hand them the $3,000 fine as well as take the drone.

 

[bhartwell]

This is sad really, and yes it’s why we are being banned, restricted, etc. and it is only going to get worse. If people cannot use common sense, all of us get grounded, it’s just the way it is.

I was filming in the Serra Nevada the other day, in the one or two spots it’s still legal to do so. Noticed a subscribed burn about a mile away. Everyone was stopping to take pictures. I decide against sending the drone out. There were no aircraft in the area, no ground crew, no personnel in sight at all actually, but none the less decided it wasn’t worth the risk or the potential hassle.

A few miles down the road, I was filming a beautiful mirrored lake surface with a peak looming above. It was quite striking. Just as my light was fading, some random lady walks over and asks if I have a permit. I tell her I am a registered and licensed drone pilot and ask what I can do to help her. Note, I took care to set up well away from the road or any people. There was no one on the lake, and the for the life of me I’m not sure why she felt the need to trudge over to where I was at, a good 50 yards from the road. She gets up in my face and starts telling me I can’t be there and these “drones” are ruining the environment, etc. I calmly told her that I was in a National Forest, not a National Park, I wasn’t on private property, that I had every right to be there and that she should probably mind her own business. She stared at me for a minute, took pictures of me, and then back at the road of my car license plate and disappeared.

So, yes, people tend to get emotional over our hobby. I don’t get it, I can’t understand why, but they do. So, if some knuckle head, films a house fire and the result is even the risk of a bad thing happening as a result, expect some new ban, restriction or other rules that make it hard to fly our drones at all.

 

[BigAl07]

Is there anything more I can do about it? This guy really got under my skin. Maybe if you guys went and commented on his YouTube video?

What more do you want to do? At this point you have 2 options...

A) Report him to the FAA (pointless because it's not a huge issue at this point) for not doing anything terribly wrong although not a good idea.
B) Spend your time and efforts on something that will better you in the long run.... practicing some tough sUAS maneuvers, developing image/video editing skills, or really anything but investing so much of your time and effort into preaching to a brick wall.

 

[Philsmith76]

If you want to report it start here it only takes a few minutes to make a report. Flight Standards District Offices (FSDO)

Debate rolls on.....Drone content on YouTube, someone is making money off the content, so should be a 107 flight. Then it’s a night flight so where’s the waiver.

 

[Bobert1850]

If you want to report it start here it only takes a few minutes to make a report. Flight Standards District Offices (FSDO)

Debate rolls on.....Drone content on YouTube, someone is making money off the content, so should be a 107 flight. Then it’s a night flight so where’s the waiver.

It was also less than 5 miles from an airport but I'm sure he call to let them in know he was flying... I'll let it be this time but I'm going to send a message to the fire chief and keep an eye on his channel.