Traditional Fourth of July fireworks are fading into history, replaced by swarms of colorful and environmentally friendly drones. They’re only beginning to make the scene but are sure to be so popular that they’ll edge out the competition quick.
Better than fireworks
The rocket’s red glare of fireworks will soon be replaced by a less threatening alternative. Choreographed swarms of LED encased micro-drones. It’s July and the traditional month of American Pride usually kicks off with a bang on Independence Day.
In Salt Lake City, Utah, this year’s bang will have to come from something other than dangerous explosives, which terrify pets and tend to start brush fires.
It’s those fire threats and other environmental concerns which “have prompted some US cities to forego traditional Fourth of July fireworks in favor of spectacular drone light shows this year.”
Last night, Salt Lake City opted to forgo the fireworks for a drone light show.
Should drones replace the traditional firework shows in Utah? VOTE BELOW 👇 pic.twitter.com/2fqsLdoYKf
— KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) July 3, 2023
According to Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s press release, the “new format marked an effort to minimize the area’s ‘high fire danger‘ and to lessen air quality problems caused by pyrotechnics.”
Fireworks may be the traditional way of celebrating American independence but it’s a dangerous one. Since we have improvements in technology, maybe we should be using them.
“As temperatures rise and fire danger increases, we must be conscientious of both our air quality and the potential for wildfires.” Utah has too many of those to start with, averaging 800 to 1,000 each year. Conditions are especially dry and dangerous this year.
Also appearing in Boulder
The neighboring state of Colorado is equally concerned about the fire danger. That’s why the town of Boulder also decided to replace their annual fireworks display with a ballet of twinkling multicolored firefly drones.
After events like these took a hiatus due to COVID restrictions, resuming the festivities doesn’t mean they have to be done the same as they always were. Gunpowder has been the main attraction at “Ralphie’s Independence Day Blast” since 1941. Not this year.
“The shift from traditional fireworks to drones was not an easy decision and based on a number of factors, including increased fire danger fueled by climate change,” Boulder city officials proclaimed on Facebook.
Boulder, Colo., Flagstaff, Ariz., and Salt Lake City, Utah, among communities opting for alternatives to traditional July 4 displays. Here's more. https://t.co/kIdefEYuUO
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) July 3, 2023
Dan Kingdom owns WK Real Estate and sits on the committee responsible for planning the city’s July Fourth celebrations. He explained that the main reason for the experiment is a shortage of the traditional mortar shells.
Instead of banging their heads on the wall to give patriots a bang up fireworks show, which could set the forest ablaze as a bonus, they thought they might look into the alternatives. “The fact that we had the Marshall Fire here in our community about 18 months ago was one of the things we discussed,” Kingdom relates.
“Ultimately, the decision became pretty clear for us because the company that we’ve long purchased the fireworks from had gone out of business during the pandemic, and we were not able to find fireworks for the show.” That was the clincher. “So, it made our decision pretty straightforward and pretty easy to go with the drones.”
