Great Falls City Commission sends fireworks question to fall ballot

Great Falls commissioners decided Tuesday that voters should determine whether fireworks should be banned in the city.

The fall ballot will include a question restricting fireworks that leave the ground and those that “explode upon activation” on the ground. Smaller, so-called novelty items like smoke bombs and fountains would remain legal, as would permitted public fireworks shows.

Election Day is Nov. 4, and the fireworks question will join the ballot alongside municipal elections.

The fireworks issue became a focal point after a Great Falls woman died in a house fire July 2. Officials determined the likely cause of the fire to be fireworks set off elsewhere in the neighborhood.

In recent weeks, the Great Falls City Commission discussed fireworks over four meetings, which included