Portland Fire and Rescue has banned the private use of fireworks ahead of the Fourth of July.
"Due to drought conditions and the annual fires, injuries and deaths associated with the use of fireworks, the City of Portland has banned the use of any fireworks, aerial luminary devices or pyrotechnics," the bureau said on Twitter on Tuesday, June 21.
In the announcement, the fire bureau encouraged the public to watch the official Waterfront Blues Festival fireworks show in Tom McCall Waterfront Park on the Fourth of July.
Fireworks are also banned in the city of Vancouver at all times. It is illegal to use, possess or sell fireworks within the Vancouver city limits. "Public safety agencies spend an extraordinary amount of resources responding to fireworks-related incidents, which can have a negative effect on the response time for other life-threatening emergency calls for service," Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli wrote in a statement in 2021.