Governor’s order lets state forester ban fireworks; mayors and fire chiefs can jointly allow designated zones

On Friday the governor issued an executive order temporarily suspending a statutory prohibition so the director of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands can regulate fireworks within incorporated municipalities during extreme hazardous conditions.

Cameron Deal, executive director of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, told a statewide webinar that the order allows the state forester to issue a ban based on hazardous conditions but also creates an explicit pathway for mayors and local fire chiefs to jointly designate areas where fireworks may be allowed.

"You as cities have more options today than you did before the executive order," Deal said, describing three municipal choices: adopt the statewide ban (take no action), notify the state forester to keep a city’s previously adopted map in place, or have the mayor and fire chief jointly submit a modified or new designated area for mapping.

State forester Jamie Barnes said the division had drafted an order and planned to publish an initial statewide map showing the entire state (minus federal lands) as subject to a fireworks ban. Municipalities that submit designated zones will be lifted out of the red band on UtahFireInfo.gov once the division processes their submissions.

"We will issue a map on UtahFireInfo.gov. When that map first comes out, the entire state minus federal lands will be red with a firework ban," Barnes said, adding that cities could submit a short online form and, if available, an uploaded map to indicate where fireworks would be allowed in their jurisdiction.

Barnes reviewed the wildfire conditions motivating the action: "We've got 353 wildfires to date in the state of Utah, 141,000 acres burned," she said, and noted two very large incidents (the Iron Fire at about 40,000 acres and the Cottonwood fire at about 70,000 acres). She described widespread low relative humidity, high burn indices and forecasts of strong winds as the basis for the division's emergency action.

Several legal clarifications were repeated during the webinar: the executive order does not change the Utah Fireworks Act’s time window for discharge (the statute sets legal discharge dates), it did not redefine "fireworks" (the existing statutory definitions remain applicable), and licensed professional public fireworks shows are exempt from the emergency ban so long as they comply with existing licensing and permitting processes.

League counsel and staff emphasized enforcement and liability points relevant to municipal practice. Local law enforcement remains responsible for enforcing criminal and civil provisions of the Fireworks Act where applicable, and officials advised cities to avoid language that characterizes designated areas as "safe zones." "Don't call them safe areas," Cassie, the League communications director, said. "Call them designated zones or approved areas."

Drawn from questions in the webinar, League staff and the division offered practical guidance for municipalities: coordinate the mayor’s decision with the local fire chief (and, where feasible, with the city council), submit existing adopted maps if you want them honored, or use the joint mayor/fire chief authority to narrow or otherwise modify the area where private discharge will be allowed. Fire districts that serve multiple cities can streamline submissions by sending consolidated information for each municipality.

A draft timeline discussed during the call put a municipal notification deadline at close of business (5:00 p.m.) on June 30, 2026, for areas municipalities want lifted out of the statewide ban; League and division staff said that date is in the draft forestry order (not the governor’s initial executive order) and could be adjusted while language is finalized.

Officials also stressed that sales remain authorized under the Utah Fireworks Act even if discharge within a given municipality is temporarily banned: retailers may sell fireworks under the law, which creates tension but does not change the statute permitting sales.

The executive order is a short-term emergency measure; presenters said the division will revisit the ban after the July 2–5 discharge window and again before Pioneer Day if conditions warrant. League staff said they will circulate the final forestry order, the online submission mechanism for municipal designated areas, and communications templates to help cities notify residents.

What happens next: the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands will finalize and publish the forestry order and an online form or upload process for municipal designations; UtahFireInfo.gov will host the map. Municipalities should decide whether to use their adopted maps, adopt the statewide ban, or have the mayor and fire chief jointly designate areas and submit them for mapping before the draft deadline. The division will revisit the emergency action after the July discharge period.