The Washoe County Sheriff's Office is partnering with a private company to patrol the skies around The Great Reno Balloon Race.
They're working to prevent a collision at the event.
“We have a bunch of balloons in the air and it just takes one gust of wind to blow a drone into a balloon and we can have a catastrophic event and that's the last thing we want here,” says Sgt. Noah Boyer.
The sheriff’s office says Dedone lent them sensors to use this year that can detect drones within a five mile bubble around the balloon race.
They found six different drones just Friday morning and spoke to the people flying with them about the danger involved.
The sheriff's office also applied for a grant from the Department of Homeland Security for a sensor package they'll be able to use for two years.
“We identified the need for drone detection last year at the Balloon Races,” said Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Noah Boyer. “The number of unauthorized drones flying during Special Events has increased exponentially, leading to hazardous conditions for balloon operations and attendee safety.”
They'll be meeting in the week ahead to decide where to deploy the technology at special events and to prevent drones from flying over wildfires.
