Two people have been arrested for flying unauthorized drones in areas affected by the Eaton fire, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Capt. Jabari Williams said, according to CNS. The news comes after a tanker plane was grounded on Thursday following a collision with a civilian drone.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told Deadline it had no additional information on the matter other than confirmation of the report.
Although Canada sent dozens of reinforcements and a Tremendous Scooper plane, which can scoop up 1,500 gallons of ocean water to dump on the fires, the plane was forced to stop operating after it was hit on Jan. 9 while working to put out the fires. Palisades. radiance. In the latest update, the FBI said it has launched an investigation to find the operator of the private drone that caused the collision. According to the authoritiesThe operator violated temporary flight restrictions enacted by the Federal Aviation Administration amid the wildfires.
According to previous reports, the drone left a 3-by-6-inch fist-sized hole in the plane’s left wing, although the damage was not noticed until firefighters returned to the ground. No one was injured and officials were able to recover the “heavily damaged” drone.
The airspace restrictions will remain in effect until January 25 and currently apply to areas above and around the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have burned a combined 37,000 acres since January 7. After the initial collision, authorities have issued stern warnings. regarding the prosecution and arrest of any individual flying unmanned objects that may endanger fire rescue missions.
In additional fire updates, officials estimate the combined fires will cost $150 billion, marking the state emergency as the costliest wildfire in Southern California history. The death toll currently stands at 24 people.
