Long Beach City Council Approves New Fireworks Ordinance

Long Beach, CA - In an effort to bolster fireworks-related enforcement efforts throughout the city, the Long Beach City Council has unanimously approved an enhanced fireworks ordinance within the City Health and Safety Code, outlined in Long Beach Municipal Code Chapter 8.81. This action creates a new fireworks ordinance specific to the City of Long Beach and expands the scope of liability and penalties associated with illegal fireworks activity.

'This ordinance serves as a reminder to our community that illegal firework activity will not be tolerated,' said Mayor Robert Garcia. 'We will continue to listen to the community's concerns and do our best to mitigate illegal firework usage.'

Under the emergency ordinance, effective immediately, any 'Host,' which includes property owners, tenants, landlords, property managers or any person who organizes, supervises, officiates, conducts, controls or is otherwise in charge of the activity on a property, can be held liable for any response costs associated with illegal fireworks activity taking place in and around the property. The ordinance allows Fire Department, law enforcement, and code enforcement personnel to cite hosts without having to observe the illegal activity if sufficient evidence is provided.

Additionally, Hosts, or anyone found to be in violation of Long Beach Municipal Code Chapter 8.81, will be issued the applicable penalties below:

• Administrative Penalty - In the amount of $1,000.
• Disposal Fees - In the event fireworks are confiscated and have to be disposed of by the Fire Marshal, anyone found to be in violation will be required to pay a disposal fee of $250, in addition to the administrative penalty.
• City Response Costs - In addition to other applicable penalties charged for the violation, those found to be in violation will be held liable to pay for the City's actual costs incurred for the fireworks-related response, which could exceed $20,000 for very large responses involving multiple City departments.

On June 15, the City Council will consider increasing the penalty to include recovery costs for illegal fireworks citations. Currently, anyone cited or arrested for fireworks violations may be faced with a $1,000 fine, sentenced to jail for six months, or both.

All personal fireworks are prohibited in the City of Long Beach. Ongoing citywide enforcement of this ordinance can be expected in the weeks and days leading up to and including the Fourth of July weekend.

The Long Beach Fire Department and Police Department have been educating the community about the fireworks for many years. Since 2019, the City's Celebrate Safely campaign has provided information, resources, and ongoing safety messaging for the Fourth of July holiday, in addition to several other holidays where illegal fireworks are often used in Long Beach. The campaign has since served as an ongoing platform to educate community members about the importance of participating in safe, family friendly activities. This year, the Celebrate Safely campaign has expanded its outreach efforts to include an expansive social media campaign, educational billboard signs, advertisements in print and digital media, community toolkits, participation at community meetings, and more.

To learn about the many ways to report illegal firework activity in Long Beach, people may visit longbeach.gov/fireworks. In addition to submitting information directly to the Long Beach City Prosecutoror a Police Department patrol division, this year, people will also be able to report on the Go Long Beach app, available later this month.

For more information about the City of Long Beach, visit http://longbeach.gov/. Follow us on social to keep up with the latest news: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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