PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Portland Fire and Rescue announced Tuesday, ahead of the Fourth of July, that the city has banned the use of fireworks.
Officials said the decision is due to the annual fires, injuries and deaths associated with the use of fireworks.
The ban also includes the use of aerial luminary devices or pyrotechnics.
Portland Fire and Rescue encourages the public to watch the Waterfront Blues Festival fireworks show.
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.
While Vancouver and Portland have both experienced extremely wet springs, much of the Pacific Northwest is still in some sort of drought.
In Oregon, as of June 14, 68% of the state was experiencing some sort of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.