Ministry reminder: forest fires are a no-drone zone

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is reminding recreational drone operators that a forest fire is no place to fly your drone.

Isabelle Chenard, fire information officer for the northeast region, says that there haven't been any reports of drones causing problems for firefighters in northern Ontario, but regions in the U.S. and other provinces have seen issues.

"Drones can create obstacles for aircraft and they can get in the way of operations," Chenard said. "So really the goal is to be able to fight forest fires and we don't want anything to prevent us from doing so."

Chenard said users are prohibited from flying a recreational drone within nine kilometres of a forest fire.

She also added that although the MNRF does use drones for other work, the UAVs are not used in fire suppression.