Durham, NC Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

The rule sits in the City Charter rather than the general code, at § 60, originally enacted in 1975 and amended in 1999. It has two parts. The first is a broad police-power grant: the city council may regulate or prevent the firing of firearms, fireworks, and all explosives or combustible or dangerous material in the streets, public grounds, or elsewhere, within or near the city, language that reaches beyond city-owned property. The second part is the operative permit rule for organized shows: fireworks may be exhibited, used, or discharged at public exhibitions such as fairs, carnivals, shows of all descriptions, and public celebrations only after written permission has been obtained from the city.

The council is not required to handle that approval itself; § 60 lets it delegate the authority to grant permission to the city fire department, which functions as the practical permitting office for exhibition displays. Because the charter section predates the modern code, it doesn't set a permit fee or application procedure of its own, those operational details are handled administratively by the fire department. The section covers firearms discharge in the same clause, reflecting its origin as a single public-safety police-power provision rather than a fireworks-specific ordinance.