B.C. man fined $5K for flying drone near firefighting helicopter

Flames are seen at Lake Okanagan Resort during a 2023 wildfire.

A man who piloted a drone near a helicopter that was bucketing water to battle a destructive 2023 wildfire in Kelowna, B.C., has been handed a $5,000 fine.

Derek Leippi was convicted of interfering with the government’s fire-suppression efforts—a Wildfire Act offence—earlier this year in Kelowna provincial court, and received his sentence Monday.

The court heard Leippi was using the drone to capture video of the fire damage at Lake Okanagan Resort at the time of the offence on Aug. 27, 2023.

• Related: B.C. drone pilot convicted of interference during 2023 wildfire in Kelowna

Conservation officers had already asked him to leave the area when a helicopter arrived at the lake to collect water, according to Judge Cathie Heinrichs’ decision.

Heinrichs found Leippi’s use of the drone amounted to an interference, in part because of the impact it had on the helicopter pilot—who testified he saw the device and became so upset that he spent time trying to dump water onto it so it would crash.

“He took a few minutes to attempt to eliminate the drone, due to a potential risk to the helicopter, which prevented him from focusing on the firefighting work,” Heinrichs said in her decision.

“During the time he was attempting to eliminate the drone, he could have been halfway back to the fire he was helping to suppress.”

Leippi pleaded not guilty to the offence, and told the court he wasn’t aware crews were actively battling a wildfire nearby when he decided to fly his drone.

The judge was not convinced, noting the fire was “common knowledge” at the time, as were the “vast numbers of people were evacuated and displaced.”

Under the Wildfire Act, drone operators convicted of interfering with suppression efforts can be fined up to $100,000 and sentenced to more than a year behind bars.