For the fourth year in a row, the skies over Lompoc were missing something on the Fourth of July: a city-sponsored fireworks show. However, there was still something flying overhead — an enforcement plane.
In a first-of-its-kind effort, the Lompoc Fire Department partnered with Overwatch Aero, a Solvang-based aerial surveillance company, to detect illegal fireworks from the air. It’s part of a broader strategy to reduce fire danger and crack down on violations that have plagued the city during past holidays.
Last year, several small fires broke out in Lompoc over the holiday, including one that spread briefly into nearby vegetation. Officials feared this year could bring more of the same, or worse.
“Following that event, we had a variety of unintentional fires that were set,” said Lompoc Fire Chief Brian Fallon, referencing the 2024 holiday. “So this year, the initiative was set to put in place some type of aerial monitoring that would enforce some of the ordinances that we have in place.”
Lompoc began planning its aerial enforcement shortly after last year’s Fourth of July, consulting with the Santa Maria Fire Department, which had used the same vendor for its own holiday response. That collaboration helped Lompoc find a way forward.
“So we had reached out to Santa Maria Fire Department and spoke with some of their leadership,” Fallon said. “And they had recommended this particular vendor that’s from the area... So we actually split our time this year with Santa Maria.”
The plane flew over Lompoc neighborhoods during peak fireworks hours, equipped with infrared technology capable of detecting heat bursts and ignition points in the sky. Once located, those data points were matched to a property using parcel-level tracking.
“They’re able to capture, using infrared technology, any heat source that is used as an aerial firework,” Fallon explained. “And then they’re further able to zero that down into a particular APN for that particular residence... So once the footage is captured, they do provide that infrared footage as well as the APN and the video associated with that person.”
From that footage, the fire department expects to issue around 15 citations, each carrying a $1,500 fine. But those are just from the air. Fallon confirmed that no citations were issued by firefighters on the ground this year. Meanwhile, the Lompoc Police Department issued nine citations, though they do not have records available from 2024 for comparison.
Despite the airborne surveillance and public outreach, many residents still witnessed fireworks across the city.
Rae-Yao Lee, who moved to Lompoc from North Carolina just over a year ago, said she wasn’t surprised to hear them going off, but was surprised by the scale.
“Some of my friends and I had a cookout at their house just down the street, and we were driving back,” she said. “My boyfriend, [and] I were driving back toward to where we live. and there were fireworks, like pretty much everywhere, all over the streets, like in the middle of the streets. You could see families like doing things.”
She described the experience as nostalgic, but also worrisome.
“We tried to drive sort of back toward where the hills are and sort of look down onto the city, and you could just see sporadic lights everywhere,” Lee said. “Which, for me, as someone at the time who was trying not to think too hard about it, it was kind of fun and cute and not cute, but it was fun to watch because there were lights everywhere.”
Lee doesn’t have children or pets, so she admitted the noise didn’t affect her personally. But as a new California resident, she’s learned to take wildfire risk seriously and supports the city’s tougher approach.
“I think in this case, especially in California, having tough enforcement is probably crucial,” she said. “Because what I’m saying about it being fun and nostalgic and family centered and all that stuff is not it’s, it’s peas and carrots compared to, like, the whole neighborhood or city being safe.”
Longtime Lompoc resident Robert Morey agrees. A teacher at Cabrillo High School, Morey lives in the Village neighborhood, an area surrounded by brush and open space. Last year, he says, illegal fireworks caused chaos near his home.
“Last year, there was one of our neighbors on a street over were doing a lot of fireworks,” he said. “And our dog, we have three dogs, and they were getting all freaked out, which is normal. And then one of the neighbor’s dogs broke down the fence and ran away, so the police were called and three of the neighbors signed a complaint.”
This year felt quieter, but Morey says that doesn’t mean the risk is gone. Pointing to wildfires that have devastated other parts of the state, including recent blazes in Malibu, Morey said it’s only a matter of time before something similar happens here.
“It is just a matter of time before it happens here,” he said. “That’s just the world we live in now. Fireworks are going to start fires and they are going to burn down [a] home. So it’s just not if, it’s when.”
To address those fears, the city has also designated a legal fireworks use area near the Commerce Building, where residents can safely use “safe and sane” fireworks. But Fallon said the city’s broader mission isn’t about eliminating celebration, it’s about protecting people.
“The whole goal of this is to reduce any fire danger while still allowing our folks in the community to have a good time for the holiday,” Fallon said. “The ordinance in our city certainly calls for safe and sane, and we would love for our residents to enjoy Fourth of July that way, but keeping in mind that any aerial fireworks can lead to major fire damage.”
As the department reviews results from this year’s flight logs and video evidence, Fallon said the aerial monitoring program is likely to return in 2025.
