A buzz above: How drones are rewiring the Fourth of July

Looking into the sky on the Fourth of July used to mean seeing an assortment of exploding colors, but not quite as much anymore. This year, July 4 celebrations will include a plethora of drones, both for entertainment and utility.

While colorful drones will be sparking up the Denver sky as a replacement for fireworks, drones shrouded in shadow will also be hanging around, attempting to fight back against illegal fireworks in metro cities.

The Wheat Ridge Police Department will be using drones to help spot and locate illegal firework usage in the city over the weekend, the third time the city has done so. For the first time this year, the Westminster Police Department will follow suit.

“Just getting eyes there first helps tremendously,” Alex Rose, spokesperson for the Wheat Ridge Police Department, says.

The approach is eerily futuristic for a holiday celebrating something that occurred 250 years ago. But the high-flying tactic has proven to help stop potential wildfires, and they’re becoming an increasingly large part of summer holidays as Colorado and southwestern states suffer from drought and wildfires.

Neighborhood sky watch

While having flying cameras snooping around the city for potential crimes sounds like something ripped directly from a Philip K. Dick novel, it’s not as dystopian as it may seem.

Rose says the Wheat Ridge department sends two drones up with a wide view to keep an eye on any fireworks popping off in a large area, acting as a way to get reps in for newer drone operators. Though all fireworks are illegal in the city, enforcing the law is not something extremely high on its priority list.

“It’s tricky to enforce on two levels,” he says. “One, it’s an ordinance violation, so it comes in as a pretty low-priority call for us. And physically catching someone in the act and having that evidence, we have to be in the right place at the right time.”

Between July 3-5 last year, the department saw 152 fireworks calls, according to Rose, but issued only one summons over that weekend to a party that had 19 calls reporting it for professional-grade fireworks that were disturbing the neighborhood. Officers also confiscated fireworks in one other incident.

Westminster is taking a similar approach.

“Fireworks enforcement remains challenging,” spokesperson Samantha Spitz says. “Officers respond to complaints as they are received by our dispatch center and prioritize calls based on threats to life, property and other calls in progress. If an officer witnesses a violation, they can issue a summons and confiscate the fireworks. If the violation is not witnessed firsthand, enforcement generally requires a community member who observed the violation to be willing to provide a statement and appear in court.”

Westminster police have created a “dedicated fireworks enforcement unit” made up of two officers and a single drone pilot. It’s just a trial period, working between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. through July 11 to see if it “helps officers locate fireworks activity and identify violators more efficiently,” Spitz adds.

On July 2, the Aurora Police Department announced that it would also be using drones to identify and respond “to”quickly to emergencies” involving fireworks this weekend. Although growing in popularity, the concept hasn’t taken hold everywhere yet. According to police departments in Denver, Lakewood, Arvada and Boulder, none of them are using drones to combat illegal fireworks this year.

Having drones at the ready can help spot and respond to actual fires immediately, especially in wooded areas, the first responders point out.

“Illegal fireworks can quickly become dangerous, especially during Colorado’s dry summer months, so we’re using the resources available to help keep our community safe,” Spitz says.

“All you have to do is look outside to understand the impact that fires have had on our state,” Rose says. “I would just urge people to be responsible this holiday weekend.”

Firework replacement

A growing list of municipalities have moved on to drone shows over the standard firework affairs in recent years.

Denver won’t be holding its Indy Eve celebration at Civic Center Park due to ongoing construction, but the city switched over from fireworks shows to drones in 2024. There will be another drone show in at the Sculpture Park at the Denver Performing Arts Center on Friday, July 3.

Lakewood will also be opting for a drones-only celebration once again at its Big Belmar Bash between July 3-5.

Many mountain towns, like Breckenridge and Aspen, will also use drones to celebrate the holiday.

Meanwhile, fireworks shows in Castle Rock, Lone Tree and Parker have been canceled without a robot replacement due to Douglas County entering a stage-two fire restriction on July 2.

“My position is not about celebrating less — it’s about celebrating responsibly while protecting our community,” Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon said in a press release.

Ben Miller, director of the Colorado Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology (CoE) Aerial Firefighting, tells Westword that he would love for more Colorado communities to look into drone shows on the Fourth of July.

The CoE is part of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, so Miller has been busy this summer.

“In communities like ours, where fireworks are a bad deal, I think more and more communities should entertain spending that same amount of money on drone shows to still celebrate the fourth, but do it in a way that is not going to start fires,” he says.

Fire prevention is crucial during grueling drought and wildfire seasons that are currently in play, he adds. As of July 2, there are nine major wildfires burning in the state, according to the fire monitoring service Watch Duty. One of those is the Aspen Acres Fire in the southern part of the state, which had scorched over 50,000 acres and was at 0% containment as of June 2.

Drones fighting back

Because of to their small size, low cost and high-range of vision, drones have become a staple in wildfire fighting and prevention in the Colorado mountains.

Not only do drones use electricity as opposed to gas-guzzling helicopters, but they also have unparalleled mobility, allowing for firefighters to see into tight spots before moving in, according to Miller.

Firefighters take advantage of wide overhead views to spot fuel buildups, such as oakbrush. They can then remove those items before the fire gets too close to the fuel, Miller notes.

In the case of fire suppression, there isn’t much that drones can do…yet. The tiny machines still can’t carry enough water to make an impact like helicopters and planes can, but the pros are working on it.

“The drone industry has been building and looking at bigger and bigger drones. Batteries are getting bigger and bigger, and therefore drones are getting bigger and bigger. And now we’re testing drones that can lift instead of a water bottle, we can lift 150, 200 pounds off the ground,” Miller says, calling the technology “bleeding-edge.”

That aerial lift wouldn’t just be for gallons of water, though; it would also allow for firefighters to move through treacherous places (like deep in the Rockies) without heavy gear. The drones could, in theory, deliver the gear to firefighters once they have climbed nearby.

Furthermore, Miller says there are around 5,000 fires in the state each year, and most are small, such as those caused by lightning striking trees. Drones could be efficient at suppressing small incidents before they engulf nearby areas.

“Those little fires, they’re not going to get the attention of a big helicopter that could come in and douse that one tree. That’s just not economic,” he says.

With the improvement in batteries and drone technology, Miller theorizes that those innovations are coming rapidly. Soon, drones may be swarming across the sky with a variety of uses, whether entertaining, fighting fires or catching small blazes on the verge of starting fires.

“I think in the very near future, even in the state of Colorado, the next addition will be the drone that delivers that six-pack that you drink while you’re watching the drone show,” Miller jokes.

…But only kind of.