In August 2018, an illegal drone flying over the Terwilliger Fire on Sunday grounded firefighting aircraft and made it more difficult to battle the now 5,400 acre blaze. Air operations immediately stopped working on fire suppression efforts after the unmanned aircraft was discovered over the fire area. Drones are unsafe and pose a significant risk to the firefighters. Helicopters had been providing support to firefighters on the ground by dropping water on spot fires along the fire perimeter.

Lane County Sheriff’s Office said that every effort is being made to catch the person who was operating the drone. The fine for operating a drone in a temporary flight restriction area — such as a wildfire — is up to $27,500.