8 rules for unincorporated Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
Verified from official government sources
Delaware County has no countywide fire-pit ordinance. The PA Fire Code (adopted through the state Construction Code) sets the baseline: recreational fires must stay 25 feet from structures, and portable outdoor fireplaces 15 feet, though one- and two-family homes are excepted for portable units.
PA Fire Code (IFC) §307.4.2
Recreational fires shall not be conducted within 25 feet (7620 mm) of a structure or combustible material. Conditions that could cause a fire to spread within 25 feet (7620 mm) of a structure shall be eliminated prior to ignition.
Pennsylvania state law, not Delaware County, governs consumer fireworks. Adults 18+ may use them, but never within 150 feet of a building or vehicle, on others' property without permission, from a vehicle or building, at people, or while impaired.
3 Pa.C.S. §1104(b)(5)
A person may not intentionally use consumer fireworks: ... (5) Within 150 feet of a building or vehicle, whether or not the building or vehicle is owned by the user of the consumer fireworks.
Delaware County sets no defensible-space or brush-clearance mandate. Suburban southeastern Pennsylvania is not a designated wildfire zone, so overgrowth is handled as a municipal property-maintenance issue, not a county fire rule. Your township or borough sets weed and vegetation limits.
Open burning is regulated by PA DEP air rules (25 Pa. Code §129.14) and by each municipality, not by Delaware County. Southeastern PA counties sit in an air basin where open burning of material is prohibited, with narrow exceptions like cooking and small recreational fires.
25 Pa. Code §129.14(a)
No person may permit the open burning of material in an air basin.
Delaware County is a densely developed Philadelphia suburb and is not a designated wildfire hazard zone. Pennsylvania has no WUI or defensible-space code for this area, so there are no wildfire-zone building or clearance requirements at the county level.
Smoke detectors are required by Pennsylvania's building codes, not by Delaware County. The PA Uniform Construction Code adopts the International Residential Code, which mandates smoke alarms in each bedroom, outside sleeping areas, and on every level of a dwelling.
Small backyard recreational fires are allowed as an exception to PA DEP open-burning limits, but must stay 25 feet from structures under the PA Fire Code and be constantly attended. Delaware County sets no rule; municipalities enforce and may declare burn bans.
PA Fire Code (IFC) §307.5
Open burning, bonfires, recreational fires and use of portable outdoor fireplaces shall be constantly attended until the fire is extinguished. Not fewer than one portable fire extinguisher complying with Section 906 with a minimum 4-A rating or other approved on-site fire-extinguishing equipment ... shall be available for immediate utilization.
Propane storage is governed by the PA Fire Code (International Fire Code Chapter 61) and NFPA 58, adopted through the state Construction Code, not by Delaware County. Small residential cylinders are allowed, but there are limits on quantity and placement near buildings.
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