Due to the massive wildfires in the West, threatening the lives of thousands of people, the authorities decided to replace the traditional Fourth of July fireworks with drones.

The 1st of July came with tragic news in rural Northern California, where hot winds started fueling a wildfire burning out of control. The stream of smoke resulted from this was sent more than 75 miles south, reaching the San Francisco Bay Area.

Considering that the authorities and locals were preparing for celebrating one of the greatest days in the history of the U.S., the Independence Day on the 4th of July, the idea of going on with the traditional firework shows started to be questioned. Local concerns started to grow with respect to the trouble that these shows could cause.

Thus, regardless of how spectacular these firework shows may have been, towns such as Carefree, Arizona, decided to cancel them. But worry not, as this doesn’t mean that people won’t be able to celebrate the Fourth of July. On the contrary – the town’s mayor came up with a great idea to ensure that the show goes on. He decided to light the sky with drones.

“Well, they described it and they sent us a video and we said, ‘Let’s do it,’ “ Mayor Les Peterson explained.

The fireless firework show will provide people with dazzling displays that will be made of several hundred drones, all of them carrying LED lights.

This is not the first time when drones replace firework shows. One similar show happened in 2017 at the Super Bowl, during Lady Gaga’s performance. Natalie Cheung from Intel was one of the team members that helped put on this halftime drone show.

“We know exactly what’s going to happen to our drones at every frame and second,” Cheung mentioned.

The same technology was also used at numerous events this year, such as the Olympics and the music festival, Coachella and one is set to happen at Travis Air Force Base, located in northern California.

The Fourth of July fireworks from last year sparked nearly 870 wildfires in California alone. According to the authorities, this was the highest number of wildfire cases in the past five years.

Source: cbsnews.com