San Bruno voters will decide Measure DD on Nov. 3, 2026, which would repeal the city's Safe and Sane fireworks ordinance and ban the sale, use and discharge of those fireworks anywhere in San Bruno. It needs a simple majority. San Bruno and Pacifica are the only cities in San Mateo County that still allow consumer fireworks, according to the city, so a yes vote would leave Pacifica alone on the Peninsula. More local measures are on our Bay Area Election 2026 guide.

What a yes or no vote does

San Bruno voters approved an initiative in 2005 adding Chapter 6.50 to the municipal code, which allows the limited sale and use of fireworks approved by the State Fire Marshal, City Attorney Trisha Ortiz wrote in her impartial analysis. These are items like fountains, sparklers and ground spinners that are designed not to fly or explode. They are sold from temporary stands run by permitted nonprofit groups.

A yes vote amends Chapter 6.50 to prohibit those fireworks. Because the program was created by voters, the City Council decided voters should be the ones to end it, the city's FAQ says. If it passes, the ban would take effect once results are certified and be in place before Independence Day 2027. A no vote keeps the current rules.

Either way, fireworks that explode, fly or move uncontrollably stay illegal statewide. The city says it issues $1,000 administrative citations for possessing or using them and would keep enforcing that. If the ban passes, residents could still buy Safe and Sane fireworks in cities that allow them, such as Pacifica or Gilroy, but could not set them off in San Bruno.

The case for Measure DD

The City Council put the measure on the ballot unanimously, the San Mateo Daily Journal reported, and signed the official argument in favor. It says State Fire Marshal maps now place much of San Bruno in high fire hazard severity zones, and the city's FAQ says that covers the majority of the city's western half. Fireworks-related incidents cause between 5 and 11 fires a year, including exterior and structural fires, and one caused about $200,000 in damage to a single home, the council wrote. It acknowledges that local nonprofits rely on fireworks sales for fundraising and calls that loss "a meaningful consideration," but argues fire risk outweighs it. The San Mateo County Democratic Party recommends yes.

The case against

The Vote No on DD campaign says the measure targets the legal, inspected products sold by nonprofits while doing nothing about illegal aerial fireworks. It says the city's fire figures don't separate legal fireworks from illegal ones. Citing city data, it says fireworks-related calls fell from 179 in 2022 to 113 in 2025 and 49 in 2026, citations dropped from 25 to 12 to eight, and fireworks-related fires fell from 11 to five in fiscal 2025-26. The campaign also says the nonprofit program pays $44,568 toward Fourth of July public safety costs, money that would disappear. Reform California also recommends a no vote.

Also on the San Bruno ballot

San Bruno voters also face Measure S, which would repeal the 1977 height limit law, and Measure EE, a business license tax overhaul the city says would raise $4 million a year. Pacifica voters, in the other county city that allows fireworks, are deciding Measure BB, a one-cent sales tax.