Fire crews are having a difficult time making progress on the Big Red Fire in northwest Colorado about 5 miles south of the Colorado/Wyoming border. The lightning caused fire started on August 19th and as of Monday was considered zero percent contained. The North Routt Fire Protection District reports that the fire size is over 700 acres and there are 102 personnel on hand. Air operations were grounded
on Sunday afternoon
when an unidentified drone flew over the fire, violating the temporary flight restrictions. “Drones in and over fires are unsafe and pose a significant risk to our pilots, crews, and operations,” explains Incident Commander Tom Roerick. “If you fly, we can’t.” The helicopters had to land immediately after the drone was spotted and were grounded for two hours until the air space was cleared.
