What to know if you plan to use fireworks

If your firework shoots into the air, it’s illegal.

That’s the message officials in Phoenix and other Valley communities want to get across as the Fourth of July approaches and the sale of legal fireworks picks up.

Phoenix, on its website, provides a list of legal and prohibited fireworks, which also details prohibited zones, usage dates and possible fines. Bottle rockets and sky rockets, firecrackers and Roman candles are all prohibited. Consequently, the city can impose a fine of up to $1,000 to anyone caught using these illegal fireworks.

State law allows the sale of certain type of fireworks — primarily smaller, ground-based devices that burn out quickly — and also makes them legal to use in cities, unless prohibited in certain areas because of safety concerns.

From June 24 to July 6 and Dec. 24 to Jan. 30, permissible fireworks are legal to use, which include things like sparklers, party poppers, smoke balls and small ground fireworks that do not shoot into the air. Such devices are sold legally at pop-up tents and inside stores during those times to coincide with Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve.

Though legal fireworks may be considered boring, they can have destructive consequences, according to Phoenix Fire Inspector Dan Farren.

“We prefer that you don’t use them,” Farren said. Otherwise “do it away from your house and away from anything combustible” and be “as safe as possible.”