Fireworks in Iowa City? New law loosens restrictions around Fourth of July, New Year's Eve
Changes to Iowa law in 2025 mean that fireworks can now be used across Johnson County on July 3 and 4. Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Tiffin and other communities previously restricted the use of fireworks, even around Independence Day.
Senate File 303 stops county supervisors and city councils from enforcing restrictions on July 3, the Fourth of July, and on New Year's Eve on Dec. 31. Counties and cities are free to restrict firework use on the remaining 362 days of the year.
More: Iowans could shoot off fireworks on 4th of July, New Year's Eve under bill sent to Reynolds
If cities don't set restrictions, fireworks are legal throughout the summer, between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m., June 1 through July 8.
Here's what to know before you start shooting off fireworks:
Despite the broader changes to Iowa law, it's not legal to shoot off fireworks for the entire 48 hours from July 3 through July 4.
Fireworks are permitted between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. on July 3 and 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. everywhere on the Fourth of July, regardless of local restrictions.
More: Johnson County residents unite to combat rent hikes, issues at local mobile home parks
In unincorporated Johnson County, fireworks are permitted between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. between July 3 and July 5. Fireworks can be used at other times, but use requires a permit issued by the county.
The punishment for using fireworks remains unchanged.
Violators are subject to a $250 fine, plus court fees and other surcharges.
More: State Historical Society of Iowa to shutter Iowa City's Centennial Building. Find out why
Novelty fireworks, including sparklers, are legal.
Coralville asks that residents "be mindful" of their neighbors, including those with pets, young children or military veterans, and requests that they find ways "to celebrate without the bang."
Iowa City encourages residents to speak directly to their neighbors about illegal fireworks use. The city does mention the non-emergency line, (319) 256-6800, if residents feel they need to make a report.
Iowa City's Jazz Festival will be capped off by a fireworks show on Saturday, July 5, beginning around 9:30 p.m.
Coralville will also hold a fireworks show at its 4thFest, with festivities beginning at 9:45 p.m. on Friday, July 4.
Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Can Johnson Co. residents use fireworks on July 4? New law says 'yes'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
4 hours ago
'Too little, too late': Parents who lost children in camp flooding speak at hearing
Parents whose children were among 27 killed at Camp Mystic on Texas' Guadalupe River during the Fourth of July flash flooding are scheduled to testify.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
New Year celebration videos misrepresented as China demonstrations
The beating of a young girl by three teenagers in southwestern China triggered public outrage, but a compilation viewed hundreds of thousands of times online does not show protests escalating into calls for the ouster of President Xi Jinping. The clips in fact show crowds gathering for New Year celebrations in several Chinese cities. The compilation, comprising four clips of huge crowds, was viewed more than 480,000 times after it was shared on Threads on August 6, 2025. "The Jiangyou incident in Sichuan, China, escalates as protestors force the police to retreat," reads part of the superimposed traditional Chinese text on the compilation, referring to a viral school bullying case in the southwestern city (archived link). "More than one million people participated in protests, calling for the overthrow of Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party regime." Police said two teenage girls were sent to a correctional school for assaulting and verbally abusing a 14-year-old girl, footage of which was shared online. Onlookers and a third girl who participated in the abuse were "criticised and educated", the police said, adding that their guardians had been "ordered to exercise strict discipline". The case drew outrage online from some lamenting the punishment did not go further, and sparked rare protests in the country, where opposition to the ruling Communist Party and anything seen as a threat to the civil order is swiftly quashed. Footage showed crowds gathered outside the city hall in Jiangyou, with large crowds stretching around the block. Video also showed people being forcibly pulled aside, and police wearing SWAT uniforms subduing at least three people at an intersection with hundreds of bystanders. Several Taiwanese news organisations included footage from the protests in their reports (archived here, here and here). But the circulating compilation, which was shared elsewhere on YouTube, TikTok and Facebook, misuses unrelated clips. Reverse image searches on Google and Baidu using keyframes from the visuals found they all predate the protests in Jiangyou. Taiwanese fact-checking organisation Taiwan Factcheck Center also previously debunked the false claim the clips show escalating protests in China (archived link). New Year's celebrations The first falsely shared clip was previously shared on December 31, 2024 on Douyin, where it included a hashtag for "Hong Kong New Year's Eve Fireworks" (archived link). The video corresponds to Google Street View imagery of a stretch of Nathan Road -- one of Hong Kong's main thoroughfares (archived link). The second clip had earlier been shared on January 1, 2024 on Douyin, where its caption said it showed a New Year's countdown celebration in Nanning, China (archived link). Street imagery from Baidu Maps shows it was filmed near the Nanning Department Store in Xingning District (archived link). The third clip was posted on December 31, 2024 on Douyin, with the post saying it showed New Year's Eve in Kunming, China (archived link). Street imagery from Baidu Maps shows the two stores found in the Douyin video in the Nanping Pedestrian Street area (archived link). Finally, the fourth clip in the compilation depicts a New Year celebration in Guiyang, China (archived link). The same clip was earlier shared in a Douyin post from January 1, 2025 (archived link). AFP has previously debunked false claims related to protests in China. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rep. Derrick Van Orden of central Wis. helps save the life of a boy in Iowa highway crash
MADISON - Derrick Van Orden retired from the U.S. Navy more than a decade ago, but his training as a combat medic was front of mind Saturday when the U.S. Congressman witnessed a high-speed crash unfold in his rearview mirror. Van Orden, a Republican who represents the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids, said as he was traveling south with his wife, Sara, on Interstate 35 in south central Iowa, he looked in his side mirror and saw a Dodge Grand Caravan "disintegrate" as it crashed into a semi tractor-trailer that was stopped on the side of the freeway. "Sara said, 'what happened?' And I was looking at that and I said, 'someone just died,'" Van Orden said in an interview. Van Orden said he swung his truck around, parked about 50 feet from the crash, and ran to the wreckage to find a mother and her son in the van. Van Orden is a retired Navy SEAL and has extensive training in providing quick medical treatment in combat situations. Eleven-year-old Sawyer Whitt's injuries were not unlike what Van Orden has witnessed in the military, he said. "His leg was just shredded — his lower leg. His tibia and fibia were exposed … his flesh was just gone," Van Orden said. Whitt's arm was also bleeding from a "huge laceration," Van Orden said. Van Orden said he sprinted to his truck and retrieved two socks to fashion the first tourniquet for the boy to slow his bleeding. Quickly, other motorists stopped to help, and the group used a windshield wiper, a metal rod from a car jack, and seatbelts as splints and tourniquets to keep Whitt from bleeding to death. Van Orden said while he and the team of passersby tended to Whitt and his mother, others stopped traffic. "Then I hear 'we need to do traffic control,' and I turn around, and it is not a cop. They hadn't shown up yet. These are just average Americans," Van Orden said. "They went out there, just regular dudes flagging down traffic, and they went to block off the highway to protect us. It was really amazing." Whitt and his mother, Natasha Lyons, were airlifted from the freeway to hospitals in nearby Des Moines, according to the Iowa State Police crash report. Lyons is suspected of driving while impaired, according to the state police. A spokesman for the Iowa State Police did not respond to questions about the crash. As of Tuesday, Whitt was in stable condition and in "good spirits," according to a UnityPoint Health spokesman. Whitt's parents did not respond to a request for an interview. Van Orden said he visited Whitt in the hospital on Monday and told him the day of the crash was his "alive day" — a term members of the military use to recognize the day they almost died in combat. The account of Van Orden's actions to help save Whitt's life were first published by the Washington Examiner on Tuesday, Aug. 19 — the anniversary of the death of Van Orden's daughter. He said the event will make him think of the meaning of the anniversary differently. "I had a conversation with the dad and I said, you know, Sara and I lost our daughter two years ago and I'm so thankful you don't have to go through that experience." Molly Beck can be reached at This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rep. Derrick Van Orden helps save the life of boy hurt in Iowa crash Solve the daily Crossword
