As the 4th of July approaches, many will be wanting to buy and set off fireworks. But given the changes in the laws over the past years, some may not be aware of the tighter restrictions in and around the Ferndale area.
Within the City of Ferndale (COF)
The Ferndale municipal code changed as of September 2015 and reduced the number of days when fireworks can be bought and discharged. Now, consumer fireworks may only be sold between 9am to 11pm on the 1st of July through the 4th of July. And they may only be used or discharged between 9am and 11:59pm on July 4th.
In unincorporated Whatcom County
Whatcom County Council approved an ordinance that went into effect July 2016 that applied a “period of use” restriction to the Whatcom County Code. As a result, consumer fireworks can only be used or discharged between 6pm and 11pm on July 3rd, 6pm and 11:59pm on July 4th and 6pm and 11pm on July 5th. Consumer fireworks may only be sold between noon on June 28th and noon on July 6th.
Click for more information
Click for more informationIn past years, drought conditions required implementing burn bans by both Washington State and Whatcom County Fire Marshal offices temporarily restricting the use and discharging of fireworks of any kind. There currently are not any local burn bans in place and the burn ban status can be monitored at the Whatcom County Fire Marshal website and also at the Whatcom County Fire District 7 website or by calling the Whatcom County Fire Marshal burn ban status hotline at 360-778-5903.
Nearby, the City of Bellingham has deemed all fireworks illegal to use or discharge at any time.
County and COF laws apply to consumer fireworks, but on nearby Indian reservations, federally legal consumer fireworks are available. These are only legal to purchase, possess and discharge while on an Indian reservation. Possession and/or use off a reservation is illegal. Federally legal fireworks include firecrackers, sky rockets, missiles, bottle rockets. M-80s, M-100s, etc. are considered illegal anywhere.
Click here for a detailed explanation of legal and illegal fireworks in Washington State (PDF).