A permanent fixture of the future Fourth of July celebrations could be an enthralling drone light show in the wildfire vulnerable northern California. But this certainly was not the case this year when hundreds of UAVs studded with LED lights and all set to amaze the spectators with their shimmering lights had to be brought back to the ground owing to gusty winds in the area.
Intel’s Shooting Star Drones have created quite a buzz at the Winter Olympics, Coachella, and Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl Half Time performance in 2017. They were all prepared to put up yet another exciting show at Travis Air Force Base, north of San Francisco, but the show had to be postponed until the 5th of July due to inclement weather.
The drone light show to be held at the Travis Air Force Base had planned to use 500 drones and depict a mammoth red, white and blue image of an American flag and California icons, all choreographed along with background music that was aired to the television viewers.
Intel drones have the ability to sustain wind speeds of up to 18mph but the tech giant said in a statement that there had been weather forecasts with wind speeds likely to be up and around the 30mph mark.
Situated at an hour’s journey south of Yolo and Napa County, Travis Air Force Base is dangerously close to the wildfire-prone areas where evacuations had to be initiated.
A drone light show can turn out to be a compatible and secure alternative to fire shows in the future and fire officials appreciate the phasing out towards drones.
Lynne Tolmachoff, chief of public education for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire), believes that drones are a much safer option to use as a replacement to fireworks from the fire safety’s point of view.
Drone light shows were convened in numerous drought-hit areas as part of the Fourth of July celebrations when the city administrators forbade fireworks due to the risk of fire.
Rianno Riego, chief brand and wellness officer at Civana Carefree in Arizona told that a couple of Fourth of July drone light shows took place without being hampered by winds. The event was produced by Firefly Drone Shows which is a Detroit-based company.
Riego said that the shows can be viewed via live video stream on Civana’s Facebook page.
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