Pocatello, ID Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

Section 15.10.040 requires a valid Fire Department permit before anyone manufactures, stores, transports, imports, exports, offers for sale, or sells fireworks for any purpose, including agricultural or wildlife control use, and it bars 'dangerous fireworks' and 'special fireworks' from retail sale, distribution, possession, discharge or use inside the city except under a permit for public display or an Idaho-law agricultural or wildlife-use permit. Section 15.10.020 defines dangerous fireworks by function rather than brand name: anything that explodes or deflagrates (firecrackers, cherry bombs, M-80s), leaves the ground on its own or when thrown (skyrockets, bottle rockets, mortar shells, Roman candles), or travels or showers sparks beyond set distances for ground-use items.

Only non-aerial 'safe and sane' items defined in § 15.10.030, such as ground spinners, fountains, sparklers, smoke devices and snakes that stay within a fifteen-foot circle and do not shower sparks beyond twenty feet, can be sold at retail, and only from a temporary stand under § 15.10.120, not from any other building. Retailers apply to the Fire Department by June 15 under § 15.10.050 and pay a permit fee that is refunded only if the department denies the permit; § 15.10.060 requires the application to disclose the seller's identity, sales location, insurance carrier, state sales tax permit number, and an itemized list of every item to be sold.

Sale is limited to noon June 28 through midnight July 4 under § 15.10.100 (extended to July 5 if the 4th falls on a Sunday), and lawful discharge outside a permitted public display is limited to New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and June 28 through July 6 under § 15.10.110. Section 15.10.130 lets the fire chief seize, at the owner's expense, any fireworks used, possessed, sold, stored or held in violation of the chapter, state law, or the International Fire Code's fireworks provisions.