Washington State all-cap implores drone pilots to avoid wildfires

Officials in Washington State battling a series of wildfires are making a clear, unmistakable, and what should be – after this many years of repeated blazes ravishing the globe – an unnecessary appeal to drone operators: Keep your craft the eff away from burn zones and the firefighters seeking to control them.

Authorities in Washington are among those across the western US and huge swaths of Canada working desperately to contain fires that continue torching thousands of acres of land – taking wilderness, private property, and lives in their paths. To add to their woes, emergency workers and government officials have repeatedly had to suspend control efforts due to leisure drone pilots and aerial photography enthusiasts defying flight bans, and putting firefighting aircraft at risk.

Read: New Montana law targets drone pilots disrupting firefighting efforts

This week, the Washington Department of Natural Resources could take no more…