Beginning Thursday, December 21, the City of North Bend will join King County and many other cities in restricting the personal use of aerial fireworks.
The ordinance bans the personal use of aerial fireworks within North Bend city limits, removing “special fireworks” from the definition of those authorized for sale, use, discharge, and possession within the City. To provide law enforcement consistency for Snoqualmie-North Bend Police, the ordinance is modeled closely after the City of Snoqualmie’s 2016 fireworks ordinance.
In December, 2022, North Bend City Councilmembers approved an ordinance amending the City’s Fireworks Code, NBMC 8.20.010. Although the new ordinance was passed by the Council in 2022, the State of Washington requires that fireworks ordinances such as these must wait one year after adoption to take effect.
During the December 6, 2022, City Council meeting, Councilmembers shared a wide range of viewpoints on the topic of fireworks, recognizing their use as a valued tradition for many, and acknowledging the danger fireworks pose to people, animals, homes and businesses, and surrounding forests.
While personal use of aerial fireworks will be prohibited within city limits, the ordinance allows for community fireworks events.
What is allowed, once the ordinance goes into effect
- Ground fireworks
- Hand-held sparkling devices
- Smoke devices
What is not allowed, once the ordinance goes into effect: “Special fireworks” means any fireworks, generally large, not designed primarily for sale at retail to the public during prescribed dates and which produce visible or audible effects through combustion, deflagration, or detonation, and which must comply with federal regulations pursuant to the rules of the State Fire Marshal relating to fireworks and are classified as Class B explosives by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
- Aerial devices including bottle rockets and missiles
- Firecrackers (illegal statewide)
- Explosive devices (illegal statewide)