Police to beef up Celebration of Lights security with steel barriers, drones
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pack the streets and beaches of downtown Vancouver and Kits Point as teams from Quebec, Yukon and Nova Scotia compete in the Celebration of Light fireworks display.
The event is typically the Vancouver Police Department's largest annual deployment, but in the wake of the Lapu Lapu Day festival vehicle ramming in April, public safety has become an even greater concern.
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'On the ground, you are going to see a significant and highly visible police presence,' Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison said at a briefing by transportation and emergency officials on Tuesday morning.
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'We've got you covered on land, on the water and in the air so that you can come down with your friends, with your family, have a good time, have a safe time, and know that we have your back.'
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The VPD will be deploying 400 additional officers on the nights of the July 19, 23 and 26 events.
That deployment will include members of the public safety unit, gang unit, emergency response team, drone pilots as well as mounted officers in the West End.
There will be significant road closures downtown and in Kits Point, with police installing 320-kg 'Archer' barriers designed to prevent vehicle incursions. Police will also deploy concrete barriers at all access points to Denman Avenue, which is typically jammed with throngs of people before and after the fireworks performance.
'There are additional barriers that are going to be put out this year, more cement blocks, you know, more containment of the event zone,' Honda Celebration of Light executive producer Paul Runnals told Global News.
'But, but we've been doing heavy vehicle barriers and other mitigation measures for many years, it's not new to us. We're enhancing it this year, based on the learnings from April, but it really is just an extension of what we've been doing for a long time.'
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Private drones will be strictly prohibited on fireworks nights.
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Police are also reminding people that they will be enforcing laws against public drinking.
With road closures in effect, any fireworks attendees are being encouraged to leave their vehicles at home and to walk, bike or take public transit to the show.
'Leading up to the event and following the event the SkyTrain will operate on peak service, which means trains will come very two to three minutes, there will also be extra sailing for the SeaBus, so you can hop on board more frequently, and on the final firworks night, Saturday, July 26, we will have special West Coast Express service form Mission and from Waterfront,' TransLink spokesperson Anita Bathe said.
'To help us support customer flow downtown, we are running special shuttle buses.'
The road closures mean some buses downtown will also have to be rerouted, including the Number 5, Number 6 and Number 23, and TransLink is urging all transit commuters to plan some extra time into their trips.
You can find a full schedule of Celebration of Light events, including flyovers by the Snowbirds, at the event's website.
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