Under Ordinance 2023-1, the Board or Sheriff can ban all open fires including the sale and use of fireworks. During any fire ban or High Danger Conditions, no fireworks of any kind are permitted in unincorporated Boulder County. Bans are common every summer.
Colorado law (CRS 24-33.5-2001) allows only "permissible fireworks" (ground-based fountains, sparklers, snakes) and bans aerial and audible devices like firecrackers statewide. Boulder County's Ordinance 2023-1 goes further: the Open Fire ban "may also ban the sale, in addition to the use, of Fireworks," and during High Danger Conditions (Red Flag Warning, High Wind Warning/Watch, Fire Weather Watch) no person shall "Sell or use Fireworks." Because the unincorporated county is high wildfire risk, a fireworks ban is in effect nearly every Fourth of July. Check the Sheriff and NWS before any use.
Violating Section II is a civil infraction: $500 first offense, $750 second, $1,000 each subsequent. Causing a fire also means reimbursing responding agencies for their costs.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Boulder County, CO
Boulder County has no separate 'hoarding' ordinance, but Ordinance 2022-8 makes it unlawful to fail to provide any livestock or domestic animal with minimum ...
Boulder County, CO
Boulder County residents may not intentionally feed big game or bears. Colorado Parks and Wildlife regulation and C.R.S. 33-6-131 make it illegal to intentio...
Boulder County, CO
Backyard composting is allowed and strongly encouraged in Boulder County. The county's Zero Waste program provides compost collection, but home compost piles...
Boulder County, CO
Boulder County sets no countywide ban on residential artificial turf. Colorado SB23-178 prevents HOAs from prohibiting nonvegetative turf grass, though droug...
Boulder County, CO
Boulder County encourages native and water-wise landscaping and imposes no lawn requirement on rural land. Colorado law (SB23-178) bars HOAs from banning xer...
Boulder County, CO
Under Colorado HB16-1005, Boulder County residents may collect rooftop rainwater in up to two rain barrels totaling no more than 110 gallons, for outdoor use...
See how Boulder County's fireworks rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.