GREENVILLE – With the 4th of July holiday approaching and in an effort to keep the residents of the City of Greenville safe, the city would like to remind our local community of how to legally discharge fireworks according to Ohio law.
The Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 3743.45 and Ohio Fire Code (OFC) 5626 apply and can be read in their entirety online by searching the ORC and the OFC. Relevant Ohio Fire Code provisions outline how 1.4G consumer fireworks must be used and stored by consumers.
Some provisions in the rules include:
- Only discharge on your property or another’s with their permission.
- No person under the age of 18 is permitted to handle or discharge fireworks.
- Persons under the age of 18 cannot be within 150 feet of the discharge point of aerial fireworks.
- No person can use fireworks while in possession or in control of, or under the influence of, any intoxicating liquor, beer, or controlled substance. A person who violates this is guilty of a first-degree misdemeanor.
- Aerial devices cannot be discharged within 150 feet of buildings/structures and/or spectators (this includes aerial shells, roman candles, cakes and bottle rockets).
- Non-aerial devices cannot be discharged within 50 feet of buildings/structures and/or spectators (this includes fountains, firecrackers and ground effect devices).
- Notice: These separation distances for both aerial and non-aerial devices are increased for certain types of locations such as hospitals, schools, healthcare and residential facilities, apartment and multi-tenant buildings, military installations and railroads.
- No person can store in excess of 125 pounds (net weight of pyrotechnic composition) of fireworks unless they have additional safety measures and safeguards in place for storage.
- Fireworks cannot be aimed at or discharged toward any person or object (such as buildings).
- Fireworks cannot be discharged on public or private school property.
- Fireworks cannot be discharged where drought conditions exist or in an area where a red flag warning is in place or other weather hazards exist.
- Any person who discharges 1.4G fireworks shall conduct an inspection of all affected premises to locate debris resulting from the discharge of 1.4G fireworks and promptly remove and properly dispose of all such debris. Such inspection and clean-up shall occur immediately after the discharge or within 12 hours of the discharge if the discharge occurs after dark.
Only fireworks purchased in Ohio may be discharged in Ohio. Legal hours of discharge are 4 to 11 PM.
