Haverford, PA Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

Article V of Chapter 83 of the Haverford Township Code sorts fireworks into two classes. Consumer fireworks are the products suitable for use by the public that meet Consumer Products Safety Commission and APA 87-1 standards. Display fireworks are the large devices reserved for professional pyrotechnicians, including salutes with more than two grains or 130 milligrams of explosive materials and aerial shells with more than 60 grams of pyrotechnic compositions.

Section 83-19 sets the rules for consumer fireworks. Possession or use is unlawful for anyone under 18. A device cannot be intentionally ignited, discharged or thrown on public or private property without the owner's express permission, from or into a motor vehicle or building, or by a person under the influence of alcohol, a controlled substance or another drug. Subsection E adds a 150-foot buffer from an occupied structure. The Code defines an occupied structure as a structure, vehicle or place adapted for overnight accommodation of persons or for conducting business, whether or not a person is actually present, so a neighbor's parked car or a closed shop counts.

Display fireworks face a tighter regime. Section 83-16 limits their use to listed purposes such as crop protection, railroad signals, quarrying and blasting, theater blank cartridges, athletic ceremonies and use by military or veterans organizations. It bars anyone under 21 from possessing or using them and prohibits ignition within 300 feet of a fireworks sales location or temporary structure. Section 83-17 requires a license from the Township Manager or a designee, backed by a bond of not less than $50,000 issued by a surety authorized to do business in Pennsylvania and conditioned on payment of damages from the display. Section 83-18 prohibits the sale of display fireworks within Haverford Township.

Retail sale of consumer fireworks is allowed only under § 83-20: a Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture license, a stand-alone permanent structure in the C-4 Highway Commercial District, at least 250 feet from any facility selling or dispensing gasoline, propane or other flammable products, at least 1,500 feet from another licensed fireworks facility, and a monitored burglar and fire alarm system.