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Portland Nixed Amateur Fireworks Last Year. It Seems to Be Working.

A deadly fire on July 4, 2021, spurred the ban.

FORBIDDEN FRUIT: A display shelf at BlackJack Fireworks in Vancouver, circa 2012. (Jarod Opperman/Jarod Opperman)
By Nigel Jaquiss

After fireworks touched off a July 4, 2021, fire that killed three people and destroyed two apartment buildings along Northeast Broadway, the Portland City Council in March 2022 banned all but the professional use of pyrotechnics.

At the time, the bureau acknowledged fireworks were a popular tradition but said the cost was simply too great: “Independence Day also includes tragic events and injuries resulting from illegal fireworks use and is both traumatizing and harmful to children, animals, and a growing number of war veterans who deserve our loyalty the most.”

Based on a small sample size, the move seems to have worked.

Here are the numbers for blazes caused by fireworks from June 23 through July 6 for the previous four years.

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