Camden County, MO Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

Camden County, Missouri is a non-charter county and does not have a general county-wide ordinance regulating the private discharge of consumer fireworks in unincorporated areas. Instead, fireworks in unincorporated Camden County are governed by Missouri state law at RSMo Chapter 320, sections 320.106 through 320.161, administered by the Missouri Division of Fire Safety (Office of the State Fire Marshal) within the Department of Public Safety. Under RSMo 320.106(9), 'fireworks season' is defined as June 20 through July 10 and December 20 through January 2 of the following year - these are the only periods during which seasonal retailers may sell consumer fireworks in Missouri. RSMo 320.106(7) defines 'consumer fireworks' as explosive devices designed primarily to produce visible or audible effects by combustion, classified as UN0336, 1.4G under U.S. Department of Transportation regulations (formerly Class C common fireworks), and includes both aerial and ground devices. RSMo 320.111 requires that any person manufacturing, distributing, wholesaling, jobbing, or seasonally retailing fireworks must first secure a permit from the State Fire Marshal; seasonal retailer applications are due before May 31, and manufacturer/wholesaler/distributor/jobber applications are due before January 1, with a minimum 30-day processing period. Public display operators must hold a separate display permit. The State Fire Marshal enforces 11 CSR 40-3.010, which sets licensing, inspection, and storage requirements. RSMo 320.106 authorizes counties, municipalities, and tax-supported fire protection districts to enact burn bans during periods of dry conditions, and a burn ban 'may prohibit the explosion or ignition of any missile or skyrocket' but expressly 'shall not ban the explosion or ignition of any other consumer fireworks.' Camden County has issued temporary commission-order burn bans during drought years (most recently during the 2024 drought when 30 wildland fires burned simultaneously in March 2025). Within incorporated municipalities at the Lake of the Ozarks, fireworks are heavily restricted: City of Camdenton prohibits the sale, discharge, use, or explosion of any fireworks, blank cartridges, toy pistols, firecrackers, torpedoes, Roman candles, or pyrotechnic display devices within city limits (Camdenton Code Sections 210.2370 and 210.2380); City of Lake Ozark Section 210.2660 makes it unlawful to shoot, discharge, fire, or explode any firecrackers or fireworks within city limits except by Special Event Permit (Chapter 612) issued by the Chief of Police with written city consent; and City of Osage Beach prohibits displaying, selling, discharging, or manufacturing of fireworks within city limits except by permit issued by the City Clerk after review by the Chief of Police, with applications filed at least seven days in advance and accompanied by a State Fire Marshal permit or Osage Beach Fire Protection District (OBFPD) permit. Lake of the Ozarks hosts large public barge fireworks displays each Independence Day weekend (organized by funlake.com tourism partners and individual venues), all of which require state and local display permits; private boaters discharging fireworks from watercraft on the lake are subject to Missouri State Highway Patrol Water Patrol Division enforcement under both fireworks law and watercraft safety regulations. Federal U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shoreline restrictions apply only to Truman Reservoir, not to Lake of the Ozarks (which is owned by Ameren Missouri); Ameren shoreline-management permits do not authorize fireworks discharge on private docks adjacent to incorporated cities where municipal bans apply.