Knox County, TN Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

Section 27-3 of the Knox County Code of Ordinances, adopted by Ord. No. O-10-4-102 on May 24, 2010, makes it "unlawful and constitutes a misdemeanor for any person within county parks" to violate any of the section's listed prohibitions. Subsection (4), "Explosives, firearms and weapons," folds fireworks into the same ban as firearms, slingshots, torpedoes and any other "missile propelling instruments or explosives." The subsection defines the banned category broadly: any substance, compound, mixture or article capable, alone or combined with others, of decomposing suddenly to generate heat, sound, gas or pressure sufficient to produce flames, combustion, or noxious or dangerous odors or sounds that annoy or injure a person or property.

The ban applies countywide to every park operated under Chapter 27, including the boat launches, ballfields and skateparks addressed elsewhere in the same chapter. It carries a narrow carve-out: a person with a current handgun carry permit issued by the state may bring a firearm, but that exception is written for firearms only and does not extend to fireworks or explosives. The closing clause allows entry of these items "with appropriate and approved permits or licenses from the county or the state," so a supervised display run by a licensed operator for a permitted public event is not swept into the ban; unsupervised personal fireworks are.

This sits alongside the county's Article II air-pollution rules and the state fireworks statute, but Sec. 27-3 is the specific bar for county park property, and it applies regardless of what a person's home jurisdiction otherwise allows for private use of consumer fireworks.