SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — A friendly dog and a drone turned out to be a bad combination for a Springfield man, after a series of events sparked a grass fire.
Cameron Austin-Connelly, 31, was flying his drone shortly before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in a field at 28th Street and Marcola Road when a man walked by with two dogs.
The dogs were not on a leash, and one of them was being “overly friendly,” Austin-Connelly said, and jumped up on him, causing Austin-Connelly to drop the drone’s controller.
The drone spiraled rapidly toward the ground and crashed. A fire started.
“I want this to be a cautionary tale for people, both for people flying drones in the dry season and for people walking dogs without a leash,” Austin-Connelly said.
Austin-Connelly has been flying drones for two years. He built the drone that crashed Tuesday by hand, he said. The drone uses a video transmitter to a receiver on a pair of goggles that Austin-Connelly wears while flying the drone, so he can see everything from the drone’s view.
Because of the goggles, Austin-Connelly said he didn’t immediately see the dogs or the man approaching. He eventually spotted them on the drone’s video feed.
“I’ve gone out to that field dozens of times before, and it’s a very comfortable spot to fly,” Austin-Connelly said.
After he dropped the controller, Austin-Connelly said he immediately set out to look for the drone, as the man and his two dogs continued on their way. Austin-Connelly said he then saw smoke.
“And then there were flames shooting up instantly, so I called 911, ” he said. “Then I grabbed my stuff and got out of the field.”
Eugene Springfield Fire responded and put out the grass fire.
Austin-Connelly said he showed a fire marshal his drone video.
He said he was told he’s not in any trouble because the fire started by accident. A message to the fire marshal’s office was not immediately returned.
