A Central Valley town in California is ready to do battle with those wanting to celebrate with illegal fireworks on the Fourth of July, employing an army of drones to monitor the skies above the city.
Hanford Fire Chief Daniel Perkins said that three drones with night vision, powerful optical zoom lenses, and thermal imaging technology will be deployed once illegal fireworks activity starts around the Independence Day celebrations.
The drones will be flying at about 400 feet with the technology to see who is setting off illegal fireworks.
“So we are able to pick up those heat signatures and then it changes, then we can actually see people,” Perkins told ABC 30.
“We can see your face, see whatever else is happening,” he added.
“That way, that part of privacy goes away once we know the illegal activity is happening.”
Perkins said the increased illegal fireworks activity since the pandemic prompted the city and other agencies in the state to find the funding for the drone enforcement, citing the dangers they pose.
“They are extremely dangerous. For all the fun you see, it’s not worth it,” Perkins said.
“It’s not worth it for us to risk someone else’s livelihood, someone else’s life on a short-term amount of fun.”
And if you get caught it is going to cost you. The fire chief said the fines can range from $1,000 for a firework up to $10,000 per person per day, depending on how many illegal pyrotechnics a person has.
There’s even a possibility you could spend time behind bars if you are caught with more than 25 pounds of the illegal fireworks.
Perkins reminds those in the city to only use “safe and sane fireworks between the 3rd of July and the 5th of July.”
“If you are using outside of that, it is considered an illegal firework, and subject to the same fines.”
The department is hoping the drones will also serve as a deterrent for the illegal pyrotechnics.
Perkins reminds people the city will host a free fireworks show that they can take advantage of instead.
The California Post reached out to the Hanford Fire Department for further comment.
