PORTLAND, Ore. — If you're looking to make your New Year's Eve bash a blast this year with the help of a self-made fireworks display, you'd best know whether it's against the law for you to do so. Luckily we've done some of the legwork for you, looking up the laws concerning fireworks in Oregon and Washington.
What fireworks can I buy?
Oregon and Washington both regulate the type of fireworks you can legally buy and set off, but the two states differ considerably in what they permit.
In Oregon, fireworks that fly in the air, explode, or "behave in an uncontrolled and unpredictable manner" are not allowed without the proper permit issued by the state fire marshal's office. Oregon allows the sale of things like fountains, flitter sparklers, ground spinners, and novelties like party poppers.
Washington's laws are more permissive about the types of fireworks that can be sold. The state allows the sale of cylindrical fountains, helicopters or aerial spinners, cone fountains, smoke devices, Roman candles, parachutes, wheels, mines, shells and cakes, ground spinners, reloadable mortars, sparklers, and novelties like party poppers.
Both states ban the sales and use of firecrackers, sky rockets or missiles, and bottle rockets. While these federally legal fireworks can be purchased from stores on Indian reservations in Washington, they cannot be legally possessed or set off outside of the reservation.
Who can buy consumer fireworks?
In both Oregon and Washington, you must be at least 16 years old to purchase fireworks.
When and where can you light fireworks off?
Interestingly, the state of Oregon doesn't at all regulate when you can light fireworks off — only when they can be sold. But since they can only be sold between June 23 and July 6, the only legal way to purchase fireworks for New Year's in Oregon is to get them earlier in the year and save them for later.
In Washington, there are specifically permitted days and times around New Year's for purchasing and lighting off fireworks. They can be sold each day from Dec. 27-31, noon to 11 p.m. They can only be set off from 6 p.m. to midnight on Dec. 31 and from midnight to 1 a.m. on Jan. 1.
In both cases, cities and counties may have their own regulations — and they can be considerably more restrictive. The city of Portland maintains a complete ban on both the sale and use of fireworks year-round, as does the city of Vancouver, Wash. So, even if you purchase fireworks elsewhere that are legal in the state, it is not legal to set them off in either of these cities for New Year's Eve.
It's also illegal to light off fireworks at state parks, beaches, campgrounds or on state or federal forest lands.
