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Fire department responds after drone broadcasts fake evacuation notice near Utah campus

Posted at 2:05 PM, Sep 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-10 00:19:31-04

KAYSVILLE, Utah — A drone equipped with a speaker was broadcasting an evacuation notice in Kaysville recently, but fire officials said they would never make an announcement that way.

Kaysville Fire Department posted about the issue Monday, saying the drone was spotted near Davis Technical College and the “evacuation” notice was purported to be from local police.

The fire department had three humorous reasons why folks shouldn’t believe such airborne broadcasts:

“1. Kaysville Police Department can’t even get all of you to obey road closure signs on Sunset Dr. in the construction zone… do y’all really think a Walmart-grade drone would be an effective evacuation tool in this city?

2. While D R O N E and D O N U T both start with a “D”, they are not the same and the police (and myself) would rather spend time with handheld cake than with remote-controlled-flying-karaoke.

3. If you ever see a drone flying around saying they’re Kaysville Fire you will immediately know that it’s a lie because our operational budget is not-so-droney. The only flying announcements we can afford to make are throwing frisbees from a moving fire engine at your forehead with a note taped to it advising to leave the area.

Rest assured, your Kaysville Public Safety Family does not use drones to make evacuation notices. If you encounter this… behavior… please notify Kaysville PD.”

It was not immediately clear who was behind the false notices or what, if any, charges or citations they might face for such behavior.