A Kelowna man has been ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for flying a drone during the McDougall Creek wildfire in 2023.
Derek Leippi was sentenced in provincial court Monday after being charged under the Wildfire Act for interfering with a helicopter responding to the fire. He was found guilty on Feb. 9.
He was set to be sentenced on Feb. 24, but Justice Cathaline Heinrich reserved her decision until March 23, saying she needed more time.
The Crown was calling for a $15,000 fine and a public apology.
Leippi, who represented himself, asked for far more leniency with a small fine or no fine at all.
During sentence submissions in February, Leippi told the judge he has already paid a price because the media attention has impacted his professional reputation as a realtor.
The drone incident happened on Aug. 27, 2023 — 10 days after the wildfire erupted.
Leippi was flying his small drone off a boat on Okanagan Lake, near the fire-ravaged Okanagan Lake Resort, to capture footage.
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He previously told court he was unaware that firefighting aircraft were operating in the area until he saw a helicopter arrive to pick up water.
He admitted he made a mistake but added he did not mean to interfere with the emergency response.
While Justice Heinrich did find Leippi’s actions distracted the helicopter pilot for a brief time, she said she took into consideration mitigating factors, including this being Leippi’s first offence and him being cooperative and respectful when authorities approached him on the boat that day.
The judge noted she believes the fine is strong enough in this case to deter others from committing this type of offence.
“I will certainly leave it to the courts to decide how best to respond and in this case, they have responded,” said Ravi Parmar, B.C.’s minister of forests. “I respect the court’s decision.”
But with another wildfire season fast approaching, Parmar had strong words for anyone thinking of flying a drone near wildfires.
Don’t fly your drones and put the lives of British Columbians that are so heroic in fighting those fires on the line,” Parmar said.
“We’ve got pilots. We’ve got people on the ground, boots on the ground, protecting people and communities every single day during wildfire season and for anyone to do the stupid thing of flying a drone, I hope the court holds them accountable.”
Crown was also calling for Leippi to make a public apology but the judge said she accepts the remorse Leippi expressed in court and no further action is necessary.
Leippi appeared in court on video for Monday’s sentencing.
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