Escambia County, FL Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

Section 791.08 sits in Chapter 791 of the Florida Statutes, titled Sale of Fireworks, inside Title XLVI, Crimes. It applies in Escambia County because it is state law, and it carves out one specific allowance from the chapter's restrictions. Subsection (1) defines "designated holiday" as exactly three days: New Year's Day on January 1, Independence Day on July 4, and New Year's Eve on December 31. No other holiday counts. Subsection (2) provides that the chapter does not prohibit the use of fireworks solely and exclusively during one of those days.

The wording ties the allowance to the calendar, so use on any other date falls outside what this section protects. The second sentence of subsection (2) keeps the local layer intact. The Legislature states that the section is not intended to provide for the comprehensive regulation of fireworks described in s. 10(5), chapter 2007-67, Laws of Florida, and is not intended to supersede any local governmental regulation relating to the use of fireworks as provided in that same provision. A resident of unincorporated Escambia County, or of a city inside it, therefore reads this section together with whatever county or municipal use rule applies to the address, because the state statute does not cancel that rule.

Subsection (3) addresses homeowners' associations. The section does not supersede a prohibition on fireworks contained in a legally executed and properly recorded declaration of covenants, or a covenant running with the land, of an association under chapter 720. The same subsection adds a limit on boards: a board of directors may not promulgate rules that attempt to abrogate a homeowner's right to use fireworks during a designated holiday or under general law. A recorded covenant stays binding, while a board rule cannot erase the holiday right.

The history line shows the section was created by s. 1, chapter 2020-11, and lists no later amendment on the Florida Senate's 2024 statutes page.