Firefighters 'impacted' by drone while battling trio of wildfires in B.C.'s Kootenay region

Vancouver -

Firefighters working to tame a trio of wildfires in B.C.'s Central Kootenay region were "impacted" by an illegal drone in their airspace on Wednesday.

Officials said the drone was spotted hovering over the flames at the Arrow Lake wildfire complex, and that there were multiple other people operating unmanned aerial vehicles in the vicinity.

"The presence of drones near an active wildfire can slow down, or completely shut down, aerial firefighting efforts due to safety concerns," the B.C. Wildfire Service said in a news release.

"If a drone collides with firefighting aircraft, the consequences could be deadly."

Officials noted the airspace around wildfires is automatically considered "flight restricted" under national aviation regulations. The restricted space spans to a radius of five nautical miles around active fires, and to an altitude of more than 900 metres.

People caught flying drones that have interfered with firefighting efforts can be fined as much as $100,000 or jailed for up to one year – or both.

Officials asked anyone who witnesses an illegal drone in restricted airspace to report it to police or Crime Stoppers.

"Please assist us keeping our aircraft flying and our pilots safe," the B.C. Wildfire Service said.

The Arrow Lake wildfire complex consists of the Octopus Creek, Michaud Creek and Renata Creek fires, which have spread across more than 26,000 hectares combined and prompted a number of evacuations and evacuation alerts.

The Octopus Creek blaze was discovered on July 11, and has already grown to nearly 17,000 hectares in size alone, according to wildfire officials.

Even without drone interference, the B.C. Wildfire Service said thick smoke in the area has forced crews to halt most of the air attacks on the wildfires for the time being.