VIDEO: Crews in southern Arizona are working to fully contain the Shaw Fire that forced evacuations and destroyed two buildings on Monday. The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management sent several crews, including engines, state hand crews, and heavy aircraft.
Corky Roberts, a tanker pilot with Western Pilot Service, has fought fires from the cockpit for over a decade. He flies planes equipped with fiberglass tanks that hold 800 gallons.
“When we drop over a fire, we’re at 60 feet over the ground,” Roberts said. Every drop demands precision and every mission demands a plan, with strict methodology allowing numerous aircraft to operate over a fire simultaneously.
“If all the sudden a drone whips by me, that throws everything off,” Roberts said. Unauthorized drones flying over wildfires have become a problem in recent years. Through mid-September last year, the National Interagency Fire Center reported 34 drone incursions at wildfires nationwide, up from 32 the year before and 20 in 2023.
