Drone halts helicopter response to fire – Medford News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News

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Drone halts helicopter response to fire By David Smigelski Updated: Sep 12, 2022 07:11 PM A A 3 View all photos A structure fire on Pioneer Road Monday spread to a quarter-acre of nearby vegetation before crews got it stopped A helicopter drops a bucket on a house fire off of Pioneer Road Monday evening. [Jamie Lusch / Mail Tribune] A helicopter zeroes in on a house burning off Pioneer Road Monday evening. [Jamie Lusch / Mail Tribune] Fire crews descend on a structure fire that spread to wildlands Monday evening off Pioneer Road. [Jamie Lusch / Mail Tribune] A helicopter was forced from the air in the middle of a firefight Monday when a drone appeared over a fire burning on Pioneer Road. Jackson County Fire District No. 5 and the Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest District responded at about 5 p.m. Monday to a structure fire that spread into nearby wildlands on the 5300 block of Pioneer Road in Medford, west of Phoenix. A black plume of smoke was visible from Medford and beyond as numerous engines responded, and firefighters were actively engaged on the ground as a type 3 helicopter dropped buckets of water from the sky. At about 6 p.m., a drone was spotted over the fire, which forced the helicopters to vacate the area, according to ODF. “A drone has been spotted flying above the fire. As a result, our helicopters are forced to land,” ODF Southwest District wrote on its Facebook page. At 6:45 p.m., ODF reported that the wildland fire portion of the incident had been stopped and firefighters were mopping up the quarter-acre that was affected. Structural firefighters remained engaged on the structure portion of the blaze. The cause of the fire will be under investigation, ODF reported. Reach Mail Tribune Editor-in-Chief David Smigelski at 541-776-4484 or [email protected].