Another drone near wildfire grounds air operations

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PINE VALLEY – Aircraft dropping retardant on a fire two miles southwest of the Pine Valley community were grounded Monday afternoon due to a “near-miss” with a drone. It is the third incident involving a drone impeding fire suppression efforts in southwest Utah.

The third incident took place near the Saddle Fire around 3 p.m. when a drone was sighted in the area of Baker Reservoir by the crew of a firefighting helicopter, Christian Venhuizen, of the Bureau of Land Management’s Color County District, said.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office was called to investigate the incident, yet were unable to locate the party operating the drone.

According to Utah Fire Info, air operations over the Saddle Fire will be grounded until the drone problem is resolved.

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