When Can You Shoot Fireworks in North Dakota: Dates, Cities, Bans

You can shoot fireworks in North Dakota during two windows each year under state law: June 27 through July 5, and December 26 through January 1. Those are the only dates when licensed retailers can sell consumer fireworks and when residents can legally set them off statewide.¹ The catch is that the state window is only half the rule. Many North Dakota cities ban fireworks outright or compress the window to a few hours on one or two nights, and a burn ban can shut everything down even on a legal date. Check your local ordinance before you buy anything.

The State Windows

North Dakota Century Code 23-15-02 prohibits the sale, possession, and use of fireworks across the state. Section 23-15-01 lifts that prohibition during the two annual windows above, which cover both retail sales and consumer use.¹ Outside those dates, lighting a firework anywhere in North Dakota is illegal under state law, even on your own property.

The state statute does not set hours. It gives you full days. Your city almost certainly does set hours, and those hours are what you have to follow.

City Rules Can Shrink the Window to Zero

This is where most people get in trouble. The state gives you nine days around the Fourth of July and seven around New Year’s, but your city may give you one evening, or none at all.

Bismarck prohibits the sale, possession, and discharge of fireworks year-round. The only exception is toy paper caps containing no more than 0.25 grains of explosive composition per cap.²
Fargo makes possession and use within city limits unlawful, with a $100 infraction fine and a mandatory court appearance.³
Dickinson prohibits fireworks within city limits.
West Fargo allows them only from 8:00 a.m. through 11:59 p.m. on July 4 and from 8:00 p.m. on December 31 until 1:00 a.m. on January 1. Using them at any other time is a Class B misdemeanor under city ordinance.⁴

Smaller towns vary. Some permit fireworks from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. across the full state window with extended hours on July 4; others open only on July 4 itself. Your city clerk or city website is the authoritative source for your address.

Burn Bans Can Close a Legal Date

During dry stretches and Red Flag warnings, counties and the state can impose burn restrictions that override normal fireworks dates. North Dakota’s emergency management agency keeps a real-time map of current burn restrictions, fire danger ratings, and Red Flag warnings.⁵ Conditions change during the day, so a morning check doesn’t guarantee an evening show is legal. A Red Flag warning issued at midday can make a planned 9:00 p.m. launch a violation.

What You Can Legally Shoot

North Dakota’s statute lists every consumer item that may be sold and used during the legal windows. If a device isn’t on the list, consumers can’t buy it. Each category carries a specific weight or size cap:¹

Star lights, wood-spike style, up to 20 grams of pyrotechnic composition.
Helicopter flyers up to 20 grams each.
Cylindrical fountains up to 75 grams, tube diameter no more than three-quarters of an inch.
Cone fountains up to 50 grams each.
Wheels up to 60 grams per driver unit, with no limit on drivers per wheel.
Illuminating torches and colored fire up to 100 grams each.
Sparklers and dipped sticks up to 100 grams each, with chlorate-containing compositions capped at 5 grams.
Comets and shells up to 40 grams, as long as the mortar is built into the device and there is no audible report.
Soft shell firecrackers no longer than one and a half inches and no wider than a quarter inch, with a maximum of 50 milligrams of pyrotechnic composition.
Whistles up to 40 grams, without a report.

Roman candles are not on the list. Neither are small bottle rockets: the statute specifically bans the sale of any skyrocket with a casing diameter under five-eighths of an inch and a length under three and a half inches.⁶ The small bottle rockets common in other states are almost certainly illegal here.

Anything exceeding these limits is off-limits to consumers. Genuine M-80s, cherry bombs, quarter sticks, and silver salutes are illegal nationwide under federal law. A real M-80 contains over 5 grams of flash powder, roughly 100 times the legal consumer limit.⁷ Products sold at retail stands labeled “M-80 Firecracker” are novelty items built to stay under the 50-milligram threshold and are not the same device.

Where You Can’t Shoot Them

State parks are closed to fireworks. The North Dakota Administrative Code bars any person from discharging fireworks within a state park unless the parks director specifically authorizes it, and a violation is a noncriminal offense.⁸ Wildlife management areas managed by North Dakota Game and Fish follow similar restrictions.

Most cities that permit fireworks still prohibit them on public property and rights-of-way. Setting them off on someone else’s private land without permission invites a trespassing complaint. And even on your own property during a legal window, fireworks that unreasonably disturb neighbors can draw a disorderly conduct charge under NDCC 12.1-31-01, which covers unreasonable noise made with reckless disregard for others. That’s a Class B misdemeanor.⁹

Age to Buy

Buyers must be at least 12 years old. Retailers who sell to anyone younger violate the statute and risk their license.¹ State law doesn’t require adult supervision for minors who use fireworks, but some cities do. West Fargo, for example, requires the user to be at least 12.⁴

Penalties If You Get It Wrong

Violating any provision of the state fireworks chapter is a Class B misdemeanor under NDCC 23-15-06, whether that means lighting fireworks outside the legal dates, selling without a license, or selling to someone under 12.⁶ The maximum penalty for a Class B misdemeanor in North Dakota is 30 days in jail, a $1,500 fine, or both.¹⁰

City penalties can look different. Fargo treats a fireworks violation as an infraction with a $100 fine and a mandatory court appearance rather than a misdemeanor.³ Bismarck’s ordinance caps the fine at $1,000.² Which law you’re charged under depends on where you lit the fuse and who responded.

1
Justia Law. North Dakota Code Title 23, Chapter 23-15 – Fireworks
2
City of Bismarck. Fireworks Prohibited in Bismarck
3
City of Fargo. Fireworks
4
City of West Fargo. Frequently Asked Questions – Can I Light Off Fireworks in Town?
5
ND Response. Burn Restrictions and Fire Danger Maps
6
North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Code 23-15 – Fireworks
7
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Fireworks
8
North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Administrative Code 58-02-08 – Park Use Rules
9
North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Code 12.1-31 – Disorderly Conduct
10
North Dakota Legislative Branch. North Dakota Code 12.1-32 – Penalties