Lilyanna Glenn helps Ian Buckner and his daughter Emersyn at the Discount Fireworks Superstore in Redmond on June 27. 

Redmond city council passed an emergency ordinance Tuesday night that bans the use of all fireworks in the city — but it won’t go into effect until after the Fourth of July.

The ban on firework use in city limits will begin at 12:01 a.m. on July 5. It will remain in effect until Redmond Fire & Rescue officially lifts its outdoor burn ban later this fall.

The order does not ban the sale of legal fireworks within city limits. The public fireworks show at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center on the evening of July 4 will go on as planned.

The use of illegal fireworks remain prohibited.

A number of residents packed council chambers on Tuesday to comment on the matter before councilors voted. Some spoke of the need to ban fireworks entirely, while others mentioned the patriotic traditions of the holiday, as well as the local nonprofits who benefit from fireworks sales.

Councilor said Jay Patrick has seen a lot of concern over illegal fireworks that shoot into the sky. Despite their illegality, he sees many go up in the city on holidays. He wishes people would follow the law and not set off illegal fireworks, however he says that’s not realistic and unable to manage that many people. 

“They are their own people. If I had an answer I would’ve given it a couple of years ago when it first started coming up” Patrick said. “<any fires can be set on Christmas trees or cooking a turkey on Thanksgiving. There are many problems, but we can’t regulate everything, and fireworks are kind of that way with me.” 

Travis Leeman, manager at Discount Fireworks Superstore which operates in Redmond, said that a lot of money goes into preparing the stands to sell for the short period before the holiday. 

“I don’t think they should be banned this year, especially since a few months ago they assured us that they weren’t going to do anything,” Leeman said. “It’s a bit disappointing for them to turn around in the middle of this selling season to tell us that.” 

Leeman understands why there were talks about banning fireworks, but thinks that they should’ve come to a decision months ago, before everyone started buying permits and customers started going out and buying. 

“We’ve already bought all our permits. We bought our business licenses and things like that,” Leeman said. “The city profits from that, it helps the community and all that. But it’s almost a bit insulting to do that to us halfway through [the season].” 

Although it’s early in the year, the fire season has already begun. In the afternoon before the July 1 meeting, a brush fire broke out due to an adult illegally burning trash and burned two acres. On June 30, crews responded to a fast-moving brush fire along SW Canyon Drive. The fire broke out due to four teenagers who used fireworks to cause the fire and put into place Level 3 – Go Now (leave immediately) fire evacuations for 21 homes.On June 16, the Alder Springs fire broke out due to a large, wind-driven brush fire and burned over 2,500-acres.

Under the emergency declaration, use of any fireworks after July 4 will be a Class A infraction and carries a penalty of a fine up to $500 for each infraction. The use of illegal fireworks in Redmond can result in a fine of $500 and $750 fine in Bend. The use of illegal fireworks brings a fine of $1,500 for the first offense, with additional fines up to the state allowed maximum of $6,250.  City officials asked residents not to call 911 to report fireworks use. Instead, they ask residents to report firework concerns via email at reportfireworks@redmondoregon.gov.