The BC Wildfire Service is reminding residents not to fly drones near wildfires, after a drone collided with a firefighting plane in B.C.’s Interior earlier this week.

The crash occurred on Sept. 2, when one of the BCWS’ birddog aircraft was “struck by a public drone that was illegally flying” in restricted airspace near a wildfire in the Cariboo Fire Centre area.

The wildfire service told CHEK News that the plane was damaged though the information on the extent of the damage was not immediately available.

The BCWS adds that flying drones near wildfires is not only dangerous, but can result in the operator being fined up to $100,000, and/or sentenced to up to one year in jail.

“Interference such as this poses significant risk to responder and public safety and impacts our ability to re

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