Here in 2025, civilian drone technology is amazing. Photographers and videographers alike are now able to get some truly unbelievable shots that they couldn't before. Even indie filmmakers are able to capture footage that would've required complicated, expensive helicopter setups in the past, and thus solely been in the domain of major Hollywood productions with the kind of deep pockets to accommodate that complexity.
Drone operators are all over powersports as well, of course; at all levels. From the deeply impressive drone piloting skills you can see in epic pro freestyle MX footage, to previously unseen views of the world from the saddle of round-the-world moto traveler Itchy Boots' bikes, they're clearly two great tastes that taste great together. Although video footage of all types can rarely capture the true scale and grandeur of nature, drones are an important tool in the toolbox for both amateurs and pros alike.
That's the good side of drones and of drone operators. But unfortunately, some folks are being incredibly dumb in trying to capture footage of the wildfires that are currently ravaging Los Angeles.
And now, some completely thoughtless idiot had their civilian drone collide with an aircraft that was actively fighting the Palisades Fire on Thursday. This, after the US Federal Aviation Administration had issued a temporary flight restriction to airspace over the affected areas, which makes flying drones not only ethically dubious but also a federal crime punishable by fines and possible prison time.
The firefighting plane in question is a Super Scooper, which is a fixed-wing aircraft that can, as the name implies, carry and dump huge amounts of water. More specifically, it was Super Scooper Quebec 1, which had flown down from Canada specifically to aid in the firefighting efforts.
The drone was destroyed in the impact, but Quebec 1 sustained wing damage and is now grounded thanks to this incident, according to the LA County Fire Department. That means it's one less extremely useful tool that firefighters have to contain the absolutely horrifying situation that's actively ruining hundreds of thousands of lives in and around Los Angeles right now.
To quote the LA County Fire Department, "Flying a drone in the midst of firefighting efforts is a federal crime and punishable by up to 12 months in prison or a fine of up to $75,000." But more than that, literally everyone knows better, and that's what makes incidents like this so completely maddening.
If you pay any attention to world-traveling motovloggers on YouTube, you'll find folks like Marc Travels frequently talking about how yeah, they would have loved to get this or that shot in some awesome place with their drone. But because they were smart and checked what local rules were before they rolled through, they didn't do the illegal and/or dangerous thing.
It's just smart. And considerate. Look, we love epic shots as much as the next person. But seriously, what in the world is wrong with you if you think it's fine to do anything that could prevent firefighters from doing their jobs? How self-involved do you have to be?
Just don't.
