Los Banos, CA Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

The city's fireworks rules sit in the Fire Prevention Code, in the amendments Los Banos made to the 2022 California Fire Code. The core restriction is a four-day window: safe and sane fireworks may be discharged only from the first day of July through the fourth, between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Outside those dates and hours, discharging them is unlawful even if the device itself is legal.

Where you light them matters as much as when. Discharge is limited to private property. The code specifically rules out parking lots, vacant properties, public streets and rights-of-way, and public parks, the places people most often assume are fair game. The one exception is a block party: if the City Council has approved a street closure, fireworks may be discharged in the street at a location shown on the site plan and approved by the Fire Department.

Devices must carry the State Fire Marshal's "Safe and Sane" seal. Anything that explodes or leaves the ground, bottle rockets, firecrackers, mortars, aerial shells, is a dangerous firework under state law and is illegal in the city at any time.

Age rules run in both directions. It is unlawful for anyone under 18 to sell, purchase or possess safe and sane fireworks, and a minor may only discharge them under the direct supervision of someone over 18, during the permitted days and hours. It is separately unlawful for a parent or anyone with care or custody of a minor to let that minor set off dangerous fireworks at any time.

Sales are just as tightly controlled. Only nonprofit "eligible organizations" headquartered in Los Banos may sell, they need a Fire Department permit, and the number of stands is capped at roughly one per 5,000 residents. Stands may operate 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and no safe and sane fireworks may be sold before noon on June 28 or after 8:00 p.m. on July 4.

One cross-boundary trap: these rules are the City of Los Banos rules. Safe and sane fireworks are not legal everywhere in Merced County, so driving just outside the city limits does not carry the same permission with you.