We want to state very clearly we were wrong to fly the drone on Saturday near a burning grass fire as crews worked to secure the area. We were raised to own up to mistakes and work to correct them. That’s what we’ll attempt to do with this article.
For those who may not know, BrownwoodNews.com is owned by Scott and Amanda Coers. We also have a part-time journalist who helps cover the news of our area. We’re just three people with a goal of better informing the community. We’re not ‘main stream media’ … we’re your neighbors, we go to church with you, we shop at the same grocery stores. We certainly don’t do this to be famous or get rich. We have a passion for Brownwood and the stories of the people who live here. Most of the time we stick to ‘feel good’ news instead of only reporting the bad.
Sometimes in our rush to tell folks what is going on, we don’t think of all the angles. Unfortunately this past weekend, we had a major failure on our part to fully communicate with the hardworking crews at the grassfire and it caused a delay in emergency services. This is the last thing we ever want to do. We respect law enforcement, firefighters, and EMS, and we work very hard to stay out of their way when we do find ourselves reporting on breaking news. Their jobs always come before ours.
We can say with certainty this situation with the drone will not happen again.
On Saturday, March 10th, while we were at home with our children we saw a Facebook Post from the Early VFD telling people to evacuate an area where a grass fire had become dangerous. We had received no other information. We started getting questions from community members who were alarmed and looking for updates. I sent Scott to the area with our camera equipment and the drone. In the past few days, we’ve both asked each other why we decided to take the drone out. Scott is certified with the FAA and well aware of the regulations and requirements for flight. We’re always extremely hesitant to use the drone, knowing that it’s a huge responsibility and liability.
We were hoping a Facebook Live streaming video, which can be done through the drone, would get quick attention and allow us to communicate the situation and give needed updates to let folks know what was happening and if and when they could return home.
Scott flew below 100 feet, away from any actively working crews. Let me say again, we flat out shouldn’t have flown at all. But, at the time we both thought we were flying safely and not interfering. Later we learned this was not the case and nobody regretted it more than the two of us.
From this point on, it’s a matter of learning from a mistake and moving forward.
We will work to be good partners with our local emergency service providers, and continue to be of service to the community as a whole.
– Amanda Coers, owner/editor of Brownwood News