New Britain, CT Fire Regulations: Fireworks (2026)

Section 17-52 governs fireworks and firearms use specifically inside New Britain's city parks, a narrower rule than the citywide fireworks provisions in Chapter 8, Fire Prevention. Subsection (a) requires approval from the Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners before anyone may discharge or carry firearms, or discharge firecrackers, torpedoes or fireworks, within a park. Subsection (b) layers on two further limits even where a permit exists: no fireworks may be discharged between 10:30 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., and no fireworks may be discharged in any manner inconsistent with section 29-357 of the Connecticut General Statutes, incorporating the state fireworks statute by reference rather than restating it.

Subsection (c) shifts the cost of any police response triggered by a fireworks discharge onto the person setting them off, so a display that draws officers for crowd or safety control can carry its own added expense beyond the fine. Subsection (d) separately bars trespassing on private property to view fireworks. The penalty clause in subsection (e) sets a flat $200 fine for each violation of subsections (a), (b) or (d), and for failing to comply with the cost-shifting duty in (c); enforcement is directed by the mayor rather than left solely to park staff.

Subsection (g) exempts any fireworks display presented by or under contract from the city itself, such as an Independence Day show, from the whole section. The rule traces to the 1970 Code § 2-235(p) and an August 2001 ordinance amendment, and cross-references the city's general weapons regulations at § 16-76 et seq.