Fireworks shows are the latest public event where the government is declared drones aren’t welcomed.
The Green Bay, Wisconsin Fire Department has banned drones from this year’s July 4th fireworks show due to safety concerns.
“There have been a couple events where drones have actually crashed and hit people,” Lt. Nick Craig of the Green Bay Metro Fire Department tells WFRV.
“There’s also concerns about drones being over the area where the fireworks are going to be set off and then being in the way.”
Drones are at the top of Altamonte Springs, Florida’s list of items banned from this year’s presentation.
“It’s a public safety risk. With 150,000-plus patrons, a drone could injure someone if it crashed in the crowd,” city spokesman Rob Pelton says, according WKMG.
“Also, the event is patrolled by police helicopters and drones could interfere with their airspace and safety.”
They’re banned in Boston, too, where someone captured footage from the middle of last year’s celebration.
Massachusetts State Police Col. Timothy Alben says they’re put in “strict restrictions” around the 42nd Boston Pops and fireworks show, the Boston Herald reports.
There will be a three-mile radius no-fly zone around Fenway Park and the area of the fireworks show.
“There won’t be any government drones here, there won’t be drones at all here,” according to Alben. “And the FAA takes this quite seriously so there are potential ramifications for that as well.”
He added a private drone could interfere with “law enforcement aviation coverage.”
“I think it’s just a general privacy concern that most folks have, that they don’t know who is controlling this,” he said of a drone. “It causes undue concern on the part of the public, and it’s unnecessary.”
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