Calaveras County Municipal Code Ch. 8.09 Fireworks

The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors enacts this chapter pursuant to authority granted by Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution and Sections 25123(d) and 25131 of the California Government Code. This urgency ordinance is of limited duration and shall automatically expire on November 30, 2021 without further action by the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 3158, § 1, 6-8-2021)

The purpose and intent of this chapter is to protect the public by reducing the likelihood of wildfires and other accidental fires caused by fireworks during the 2021 fire season.

(Ord. No. 3158, § 1, 6-8-2021)

A. Pursuant to the requirements of Govt. Code § 25123(d), the board of supervisors has determined that the provisions contained in this chapter are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the unincorporated areas of Calaveras County. Such determination is based on the following factual circumstances.

B. The use and discharge of fireworks within the county presents a serious hazard to the health, welfare, and safety of individuals and property within the county. This hazard is most pronounced during the July Fourth seasonal celebration.

C. It is anticipated that due to worsening drought, rising temperatures, and arid fuels, the 2021 fire season could prove devasting for California. In response, the governor has proposed a record budget in an to attempt to mitigate a potentially disastrous fire season.

D. In 2020, a historic four million two hundred fifty-seven thousand eight hundred sixty-three acres of California burned, the largest fire season in modern history. As of May 25, 2021, there have already been over two thousand five hundred wildfires in the state, a significant increase over the same period of time last year. According to Cal Fire, as of May 28, 2021, an estimated fifteen thousand four hundred fifty-eight acres have burned statewide.

E. Whereas multiple fire protection districts within Calaveras County ban fireworks, there is no countywide prohibition, causing disparity between districts and the risk of fireworks-related fires, injuries, and damage to property within the county as a whole.

F. In Calaveras Consolidated Fire Protection District's territory alone, as of May 26, 2021, the district has responded to 27 vegetation fires within its district this season and an additional three vegetation fires with a neighboring fire district on the border with San Joaquin County. Of those thirty wildland fires, twenty-six are currently presumed to have been caused by human error. Approximately three hundred acres have burned in these fires.

G. According to the National Fire Protection Association, an estimated nineteen thousand five hundred fires started by fireworks were reported to fire departments nationwide in 2018. These fires caused five civilian deaths, forty-six civilian injuries, and one hundred five million dollars in direct property damages. Twenty-eight percent of the fires started by fireworks in the 2014-2018 period were reported on the Fourth of July. During that same time period, brush, grass, or forest fires accounted for fifty-nine percent of fireworks-started fires.

H. Local fire hazard conditions require that the use and discharge of fireworks be immediately prohibited within Calaveras County. In order to effectively prohibit the use and discharge of fireworks, it is also necessary to prohibit the sale of fireworks; if fireworks are readily available within the county, any prohibition on use will be largely ineffective without a sizable and cost-prohibitive policing effort.

(Ord. No. 3158, § 1, 6-8-2021)

Unless otherwise indicated, the terms and phrases used in this chapter shall have the same meaning as those terms defined under the State Fireworks Law, Cal. Health and Safety Code § 12500 et seq.

(Ord. No. 3158, § 1, 6-8-2021)

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person shall sell, offer for sale, use, discharge, display, possess, store, or transport any fireworks within the unincorporated area of Calaveras County.

(Ord. No. 3158, § 1, 6-8-2021)

A. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any person or entity engaged in the preparation for or performance of a public fireworks display authorized in writing by the fire chief of a fire district within which the display is to be made and conducted in full compliance with any conditions or restrictions placed upon such authorization.

B. Exempt from the prohibition of Section 8.09.050 are emergency signaling devices as defined in Health and Safety Code § 12506, when used for emergency signaling purposes.

C. Exempt from the prohibition of Section 8.09.050 are the following types of fireworks if written approval is first secured from the responsible fire jurisdiction:

1. Agricultural and wildlife fireworks as defined by Health and Safety Code § 12503;

2. Emergency signaling devices when used for non-emergency purposes as defined in Health and Safety Code § 12506;

3. Exempt fireworks as defined by Health and Safety Code § 12508;

4. Model rocket motors as defined by Health and Safety Code § 12520;

5. Any fireworks or pyrotechnic device exempted under Health and Safety Code § 12540.

(Ord. No. 3158, § 1, 6-8-2021)

Any violation of this chapter is hereby declared to be a public nuisance that may be subject to enforcement pursuant to the provisions of Section 8.06 or any other administrative, criminal or civil remedy available to the county under applicable laws. Alternatively, the fire warden and/or chief of any fire protection district, or their designated representatives, shall have authority to enforce the provisions of this chapter within their respective districts as permitted by law.

(Ord. No. 3158, § 1, 6-8-2021)