July 4 without fireworks: drones take over
i24NEWS ·
Live from New York, along the Hudson, for i24NEWS: "it is the 242nd anniversary of American independence." The famous Fourth of July, which for most Americans is mostly "a day of barbecues and the classic hot-dog contests," traditionally ends with fireworks. Except that this year, all over the country, "the traditional lighting of the sky will not be done with firecrackers, but with drones." Dozens of cities in California, Colorado and Arizona, worried about the drought that returns every summer and the fires so often started by fireworks, opted for a modern solution to avoid more wildfires. It was the innovations of the Winter Olympics ceremonies in South Korea, and also the celebrations of Israel's 70th anniversary in Jerusalem, that inspired many organizers to turn to drones. At Travis Air Force Base, near San Francisco, Intel orchestrates the ballet of lights: "no explosion noise or smoke, just a little buzzing and thousands of small bulbs of every color to put on the show." Same thing in Aspen, Colorado, and in dozens of towns that swapped their pyrotechnic show for the aerial choreography of these little machines. In New York, the show stays old-fashioned, but drones are very much present all along the parade route, "to ensure the safety of the tens of thousands of Americans who came to celebrate Independence Day." Report by David Benaym on i24NEWS in French, July 4, 2018.