Berkeley, CA Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

3, which flatly prohibits fireworks within the City of Berkeley: possession, manufacture, storage, sale, handling, and use are all barred, and the ban explicitly reaches 'Safe and Sane' fireworks that the California State Fire Marshal's Office otherwise classifies as legal for retail sale elsewhere in the state. This makes Berkeley stricter than jurisdictions that allow Safe and Sane sales under state law, since Berkeley bans that category outright. The ordinance carves out three narrow exceptions rather than a general permit path: storage and handling of fireworks already authorized under CFC Section 5604, manufacture, assembly, and testing of fireworks allowed under CFC Section 5605 and Health and Safety Code Division 11, and professional fireworks displays, proximate-audience pyrotechnics, and pyrotechnic special effects for motion pictures, television, or stage and group entertainment productions under Health and Safety Code Division 19, Chapter 6, when the operator holds the required fire department permit and follows every applicable requirement of Chapter 56.

Outside those three carve-outs, an ordinary resident or business cannot legally possess or use any firework, even the least dangerous consumer-grade type sold across much of California around the July 4th holiday. The Berkeley Fire Department enforces the ban as part of the 2025 Fire Code update, effective January 1, 2026.