Craven County, NC Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

Two matching provisions in Chapter 28 ban fireworks on county recreation property. Section 28-1(15)d, inside the general park-conduct article, states that 'the use of fireworks of any type is expressly prohibited except at approved and permitted events' in every public recreation area the county owns or controls, meaning parks, the recreation center, playgrounds, ball fields, tennis courts and their parking lots. Article II applies the same rule to the Cowpen Boat Landing and Spring Garden Boat Landing sites: Sec. 28-26(c) bans 'any fireworks or explosives of any kind or nature' except at approved and permitted events.

Both bans exist alongside a firearms ban in the same subsections, and both are enforced the same way: Sec. 28-1(19) makes any violation of the parks chapter trespass in addition to whatever other penalty applies, while Sec. S. 153A-123 or other applicable law,' and lets an officer or Recreation and Parks employee order a violator to leave immediately, with a trespass charge available if they refuse. Because Chapter 28 sets no separate fireworks fine, a citation also triggers the Code's general $500 civil penalty under Sec.

1-11. These bans reach only property the county owns or controls: they do not regulate fireworks use on private land in unincorporated Craven County, and they have no bearing on the separate rules New Bern, Havelock or the county's other municipalities set for their own parks.