More cities and towns deployed drones to spot illegal fireworks during the Fourth of July celebrations commemorating America’s 250th anniversary—leading to a $100,000 fine in one instance and coming as part of a broader national trend of first responders turning to drone surveillance.
Police and fire departments have described using both increased drone surveillance and steep fines to deter people from shooting off illegal fireworks, with many departments publicizing their drone videos on social media and warning that their drones will be watching in the future. Incidents involving illegal fireworks have led to costly fires, injuries, and evenmultipledeaths each year, along with creating local air and noise pollution for residential neighborhoods.
This year, the $100,000 fine for illegal fireworks came from the Sacramento Fire Department in Northern California deploying its own drones for the first time on the Fourth of July, according to CBS News Sacramento. Sacramento Fire Captain Justin Sylvia described the fire department’s drones as being capable of recording scenes in high-resolution video to help investigators identify the house or closest location using Google Maps.
Researchers in Austria have developed a four-legged robot that could make firefighting operations safer by entering dangerous areas and detecting hazardous substances before firefighters have to go in. The robot, developed under the leadership of researchers at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), is designed to act as an advance scout during emergencies involving toxic […]
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