BAY AREA, CA — Backyard celebrations and neighborhood fireworks displays are making a return across the San Francisco Bay Area this summer, with hundreds of cities allowing "safe and sane" fireworks sales ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
Nearly 300 cities and communities across the Golden State, including some in the Bay Area, permit the sale of State Fire Marshal-approved fireworks. Approved retailers are allowed to sell the fireworks from noon June 28 through noon July 6, though some cities may have shorter time windows.
Fire officials continue to warn that even legal fireworks can spark fast-moving wildfires during hot, dry summer conditions.
California only allows fireworks labeled "safe and sane," meaning they are ground-based, non-explosive and are not intended to be launched into the air. Prohibited items include aerial shells, bottle rockets, firecrackers, Roman candles, sky rockets, wire core sparklers and similar devices.
Major metropolitan areas — including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and all of San Diego County — ban all consumer fireworks outright, leaving permitted sales largely concentrated in smaller suburbs and rural communities.
Penalties for selling, possessing or using illegal fireworks that do not carry the official seal can be as high as $50,000 and include up to a year in jail, or both, according to Cal Fire.
Here are the cities in the San Francisco Bay Area where you can buy and set off legal fireworks, according to Cal Fire:
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