Lancelin fire: ‘Bloody idiotic’ drone operator halts firefighters for nearly an hour

Police are investigating after a “bloody idiotic” drone operator interrupted efforts to fight a bushfire in Lancelin for an hour on Wednesday night.

Premier Roger Cook said the “rogue drone operator” was likely flying the drone to capture a shot of the fire that was raging north of Perth.

The Lancelin fire was downgraded to a watch and act and later given the all-clear.

For 55 minutes, air support was grounded due to the drone, including the large aerial water bomber. The time lost cost firefighters one large air tanker drop and five drops from fixed-wing aircraft.

“That means that drone operator not only put property at risk, that drone operator put lives at risk,” Mr Cook said.

“Not only the lives of people in that area but also the emergency services personnel who are on the ground fighting that fire.

“It’s a bloody idiotic thing to do and there are severe penalties for those who undertook that activity.”

Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said it was the second time in a month there had been an authorised drone over a fire ground.

Police are investigating and working with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to find those responsible, Mr Dawson revealed.

Drone pilots can face fines of up to $9000 for breaching CASA regulations and fines of up to $50k under the Emergency Management Act.

Mr Dawson said police had the capacity to override and disable a drone and then trace it back to its owner, but declined to say if that had occurred in this case.