Riverside, CA Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

3, was rewritten in its entirety by Ordinance 7745 in 2025. Subsection A makes it unlawful to sell, offer for sale, use, discharge, possess, store, or transport fireworks in Riverside, subject to five narrow exceptions: fireworks sold for a display under a special permit issued by the Fire Chief when not otherwise barred by other local or state law; display use and handling under Title 19 of the California Code of Regulations; activities under the State Fireworks Law where all necessary state and local permits are in hand; transport by a validly state-licensed person on approved routes under the State Fireworks Law; and possession, storage, sale, use, and handling of snap caps, snappers, or party poppers under Title 19.

Subsection B separately bans manufacturing fireworks unless the Fire Chief permits it consistent with the State Fireworks Law, and subsection C bans manufacturing or using pyrotechnic special-effects material without a permit and compliance with applicable law. Subsection D preserves narrow historic exceptions for railroad and transportation-agency signal or illumination use and for blank cartridges used in shows, theater, ceremonial, athletic, or military-signal contexts. Unlike many neighboring California cities that carry a 'safe and sane' local exception under the state Fireworks Law, Riverside's ordinance recognizes no such carve-out for consumer fireworks, the ban is total for anything not covered by the five listed exceptions, and subsection E independently declares any violation both unlawful and a public nuisance.