Brockton, MA Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

Brockton Code § 7-79(a) folds the city's fireworks rule directly into state law: the keeping, storage, manufacture, handling, transportation, supervised display or other disposition of fireworks is governed by the state board of fire prevention regulations, FPR #1, and by sections 39, 39A, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 of chapter 148 of the General Laws. Section 7-79(b) adds a city-specific rule beyond the state ban: the manufacture of fireworks or firecrackers is prohibited in the city, with no local carve-out for licensed manufacturers as some Chapter 148 sections allow elsewhere in the state.

The controlling state provision, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 148, § 39, criminalizes selling, keeping, possessing, controlling, using or exploding any combustible or explosive composition prepared to produce a visible or audible effect by combustion, explosion, deflagration or detonation, defining fireworks broadly to include firecrackers, cherry bombs, M-80s, sky-rockets, Roman candles, sparklers and similar devices. It exempts small-charge toy caps under specified explosive-grain thresholds, fireworks shipped directly out of Massachusetts, supervised displays permitted under Section 39A, signal flares for railroads and transportation agencies, blank cartridges for theatrical, ceremonial or militia use, and farmers using firecrackers under a Section 13 permit to control crop damage from birds.

Selling or offering fireworks for sale carries a fine of $100 to $1,000 or up to one year in jail, with the fireworks forfeited to the commonwealth; possessing, using or exploding fireworks carries a lesser fine of $10 to $100, with warrantless seizure by any qualified officer and forfeiture on conviction.