When the Caldor Fire raced toward the southern shore of Lake Tahoe last year, its 100-foot (30-meter) flames spread across the tree canopy. Miles away, towns on the north shore took notice.
Highlights
- Three communities on the California-Nevada border are switching from the traditional fireworks show for the U.S.
- Independence Day holiday this July 4 to a drone light show.
- With Western states enduring a historic drought, some towns are rejecting fireworks as a wildfire risk.
- A typical drone show has no bombs bursting in air but dozens or hundreds of tiny lit flying machines executing maneuvers to music, forming improbable, multicolored and shifting designs suspended in the night sky.
- The dozens of July 4 drone shows scheduled this year amount to a fraction of the 16,000 displays that the fireworks industry estimates it will put on for the holiday.
- A small town can put on a fireworks display for $15,000 to $20,000, according to the fireworks trade association.