Arkansas Says: Keep Your Drones Out Of The Air Near Wildfires

Sometimes people feel like their rights are being trampled on; I get it. However, you and I do not have the right to interfere with ongoing firefighting operations just so we can get a cool video to share on social media. I looked it up, that's not a right.

Ongoing Arkansas Wildfires

It's bad out there. When the grass and everything around it is this dry, the smallest spark can set it off and quickly turn into what we're witnessing around Arkansas, Texas, and many other places right now.

What burns me up (pardon the pun), most of it seems preventable; don't throw cigarette butts out of a moving vehicle, don't burn anything outside, don't park a vehicle with a hot exhaust on tall grass. A lot of people don't think about the hot exhaust thing, but I witnessed 8 cars burn up before they could get the fire out at a music festival in Texas a few years ago for that very reason.

As For Your Drone? Grounded TFN

If unauthorized drones are flying in an ongoing wildfire situation, the airborne equipment actually fighting that fire is grounded until they can be sure the unauthorized drone is out of the sky. It's a safety issue for the pilots fighting the fire. That slows an already frustrating process of getting a fire under control. Plus, it will mean big trouble for you if you are caught.

Arkansas Wildfire Dashboard Is Live

Remember, the Arkansas Department of Agriculture has launched a new Active Wildfire Dashboard, giving you and I a way to track wildfires across the state in real time, or very close to it.

READ MORE: Texarkana Weekend Events 

The dashboard shows not only the current wildfires, but also the year-to-date wildfire totals, acreage affected, and information about individual fires, including their locations and acreage. Click here and save the link.

Let's all do our best to help, not hinder, our brave firefighters.

Arkansas Department of Agriculture