Flagstaff council briefed on July 4 drone show plan, public-safety and traffic measures
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Summary
City staff described logistics, public-safety coordination and marketing for a July 4 drone show at Coconino High School baseball fields, including traffic plans, emergency-management involvement and vendor test flights.
City staff outlined on June 10 how Flagstaff will stage a July 4 drone light show instead of fireworks and described traffic, emergency response and public-information efforts planned for the event.
Parks and events staff told the council that the city contracted a drone vendor and coordinated with emergency management, Flagstaff Police Department and Fire to develop an incident action plan for crowd and traffic control. Haley Reynolds, events and marketing manager with PROS (Parks, Recreation & Special Events), said the incident action plan covers internal and external communications, traffic control, multimodal transportation and signage for no-stopping and no-parking zones.
Why it matters: The city moved away from pyrotechnic fireworks for summer shows because of wildfire risk and uncertainty from fire restrictions; drone shows are being piloted to reduce spark and debris risk and provide a multi‑minute, repeatable display.
Reynolds said the drone vendor (OpenSky) tested flight lines from several viewing locations and that the planned altitude for drones is about 400 feet above the highest nearby point. Staff identified viewing radiuses and noted the best views are within roughly a half mile of the launch area (the baseball fields at Coconino High School). Parks and Recreation will leave restrooms open at Jay Lively and the Aquaplex and provide staffing and portable restrooms at Buffalo Park; Hal Jensen Recreation Center will open at 7 p.m. with some programming and restroom access for nearby Sunnyside neighborhoods.
Marketing and visitor-services staff described a paid, earned and owned media plan focused on Phoenix and regional drive markets, plus local outreach. Lori Pappas, Discover Flagstaff marketing and media manager, said digital ads, billboards and radio buys are scheduled to promote the drone show and related July 4 activities; the city also plans to run a parallel “Be Fire Aware” campaign.
Council members pressed staff on line-of-sight and viewing-area clarity. Reynolds and Pappas said the vendor flew test flights to ensure line of sight from key locations and that staff would refine wording in public messaging about where it is appropriate to set up blankets and chairs so that trails are not blocked. Council members asked about Mountain Line transit options; staff said service currently ends at 8 p.m. on July 4 but they were discussing potential service expansions and would update marketing if transit schedules change.
Staff also requested that private groups wanting to offer food or restroom services at viewing locations contact Discover Flagstaff for inclusion in marketing; the city will not proactively recruit vendors for those spots but will promote partner offerings on request.
No formal action was taken; staff will finalize logistics and continue outreach before July 4.
