Haverhill, MA Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing law
- City Code § 145-3
- Default rule
- Use prohibited unless Chief of Police authorizes
- Authorizing official
- Chief of Police, by Council order
- Manufacturing license
- Required under § 145-2
- Enforcing agency
- Haverhill Police Department
Summary
City Code § 145-3 bars anyone from setting off fireworks in Haverhill except on days, hours and terms the Chief of Police sets by order of the City Council, and § 145-2 requires a license to manufacture fireworks in the City.
§ 145-1. License required for storage of certain explosives. No license shall be granted by the City Council for the use of any building or structure in the City for the keeping, storage, manufacture or sale of gunpowder, dynamite, crude petroleum or any of its products, or of explosives or flammable fluids or compounds, tablets, torpedoes or any explosives of a like nature or of any other explosive except fireworks or firecrackers ... ... § 145-3. Sale or use of fireworks regulated. No person shall use, set fire to or explode or cause to be used, set fire to or exploded any rocket, firecracker, squib, serpent or any other firework or explosive substance or compound the use of which is not specifically prohibited by law except on such days and between such hours and under such terms and conditions as the Chief of Police may, by order of the City Council and subject to the provisions of law, from time to time determine and direct.
Full Breakdown
Section 145-3 of the Haverhill Code prohibits any person from using, setting fire to, or exploding a rocket, firecracker, squib, serpent, or any other firework or explosive substance whose use is not already prohibited by law, except on days, during hours, and under terms and conditions the Chief of Police determines and directs, by order of the City Council and subject to state law. In practice this means there is no standing local window for fireworks use in Haverhill: use is unlawful unless the Chief of Police has specifically authorized it for a particular occasion.
Section 145-1 separately requires a City Council license, obtained through the Chief of Police, before any building or structure in Haverhill may be used to keep, store, manufacture, or sell gunpowder, dynamite, or other explosives, though that licensing requirement expressly carves out fireworks and firecrackers from its own coverage. Section 145-2 fills that gap by requiring its own City Council license, again processed through the Chief of Police, specifically for using a building or structure to manufacture fireworks or firecrackers. Massachusetts state law separately restricts consumer fireworks sales and possession, but the local ordinance's own text governs where and when any legal use, display, or manufacture may occur inside city limits, layering city enforcement on top of state restrictions rather than replacing them.
Violations & Fines
Because § 145-3 makes unauthorized use unlawful outright rather than setting a specific city fine, enforcement runs through the Haverhill Police Department, which can charge violators under this section and refer manufacturing without the § 145-2 license to the City Council's licensing enforcement. A building used to manufacture fireworks without the required license under § 145-2 exposes the operator to the same license-required violation as unlicensed explosives storage under § 145-1.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I set off fireworks in Haverhill on the Fourth of July?
Do I need a license to sell fireworks in Haverhill?
Who enforces the Haverhill fireworks ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Haverhill
How Haverhill compares: Cities Where Fireworks Are Banned or Heavily Restricted·Compare Haverhill to another location·View the Massachusetts fire regulations overview
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