Modoc County, CA Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

California's State Fireworks Law (Health & Safety Code sections 12500 and following) splits consumer fireworks into 'dangerous' fireworks and 'safe and sane' fireworks. Dangerous fireworks — firecrackers, sky rockets, bottle rockets, Roman candles and similar items — are illegal everywhere in California without a State Fire Marshal license. Under Health & Safety Code section 12529, a city, county, or fire district may allow 'safe and sane' fireworks only by affirmatively adopting an ordinance permitting them; where no such local ordinance exists, safe-and-sane fireworks may not be sold or used. The Modoc County Code, codified through Ordinance No. 325-A (January 2026), contains no chapter authorizing fireworks sales or discharge, and the county adopts the 2022 California Fire Code through Title 15, Chapter 15.01, which regulates fireworks. The practical effect for residents of unincorporated Modoc County — Cedarville, Fort Bidwell, Adin, Canby, Tulelake area, Likely and similar communities — is that there is no lawful retail sale or backyard use of fireworks. Modoc is high-desert sagebrush and forested Warner Mountain country with serious wildfire risk. Most of the county is also surrounded by the Modoc National Forest and BLM public land, where fireworks (including state-approved 'safe and sane' devices) are always prohibited under federal law, year-round.