Fire Regulations in Pennsylvania (2026)

The City of Allentown treats a backyard fire pit as a campfire, which requires a permit and a pre-lighting inspection…

Bethlehem does not allow the backyard fire pits and bonfires most Pennsylvania fire codes permit under a 25-foot…

True backyard ground fires (recreational fires and bonfires) are not freely allowed in Philadelphia. The Air Management…

In Bucks County parks, a fire can only be built inside a county-owned fireplace, metal grill or approved public fire…

A bonfire, campfire or other unencased recreational fire is allowed in Lower Merion Township only with a paid permit…

Any open burning in Pittsburgh, including a backyard fire pit or bonfire, needs a $71 Fire Bureau permit under the…

Recreational fires are legal in Abington Township only inside a fire pit meeting Section 65-3B(5)'s limits: three feet…

Allegheny County limits recreational wood fires to three feet by three feet by two feet high and requires them to burn…

Recreational fires are allowed under PA DEP rules (25 Pa Code §129.14 exempts fires 'solely for recreational or…

Chester County does not regulate residential fire pits; rules are set by your borough or township, which enforce fire…

Erie permits recreational backyard fires of seasoned firewood between 5 pm and 11 pm Monday-Thursday and 5 pm to…

In Haverford Township a portable outdoor fireplace must stay 12 feet from a structure and five feet from other…

In Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County, a recreational fire needs no permit but must stay three feet or less in…

In Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, recreational fires of clean, dry and seasoned wood need no permit but…

Upper Darby rewrote the Fire Code's portable outdoor fireplace section to allow fire pits and chimineas only if…

Recreational backyard fires are allowed under DEP rules when used solely for cooking or recreation, but the specific…

Bensalem Township Code Section 107-18(1) permits listed and approved portable outdoor fireplaces within Bensalem…

The recreational fire provision in the Bristol Township code, § 140-5, sits in the Township parks chapter. Recreational…

Consumer-grade (1.4G) fireworks are legal in Pennsylvania for adults 18 and older. Act 43 of 2017 legalized them; Act…

Abington Township bans the manufacture, storage, sale, use and exploding of fireworks anywhere in the Township under…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, no one can sell, offer for sale, possess or fire fireworks. Section 3-345.3…

Penn Hills prohibits carrying or discharging fireworks, firecrackers, and other missile-propelling or explosive devices…

Pittsburgh's Fire Code bans the manufacture, assembly, and testing of explosives and fireworks citywide, with narrow…

Reading bans igniting consumer fireworks on City streets, sidewalks or property without a Fire Chief permit, and flatly…

Bethlehem bars anyone from igniting, discharging or launching consumer fireworks between 9:00 PM and 9:00 AM, and bans…

In Bristol Borough, Pennsylvania, a fireworks sales or storage facility cannot be within 300 feet of any residential…

In Bristol Township, a facility selling fireworks must be licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, stand…

Franklin Township prohibits carrying, exploding or discharging fireworks, firecrackers and other missile-propelling…

Lower Merion Township bars fireworks in its parks outright and charges a permit fee anywhere else in the Township. Code…

Lower Paxton Township lets anyone 18 or older buy, possess and use consumer fireworks, but Chapter 107 bans discharge…

Pottstown limits legal fireworks use, as defined by Pennsylvania state law, to specific holiday windows: July 2-4, New…

Pennsylvania's Act 74 of 2022 legalizes consumer fireworks statewide for anyone 18 or older and preempts a total local…

Bensalem Township requires anyone holding a fireworks display permit to notify Bensalem Fire Rescue in writing at least…

Under PA Act 43 of 2017, residents 18+ may buy and set off consumer fireworks, but never within 150 feet of an occupied…

Pennsylvania's consumer fireworks law (Act 74 of 2022) governs Chester County. Adults 18 and older may buy and use 1.4G…

Pennsylvania state law, not Delaware County, governs consumer fireworks. Adults 18+ may use them, but never within 150…

Pennsylvania Act 74 of 2022 (3 Pa.C.S. Ch. 11) preempts local fireworks bans and legalizes consumer fireworks statewide…

In Haverford Township, Delaware County, nobody under 18 can possess or use consumer fireworks, and none can be set off…

Pennsylvania (3 Pa.C.S. Chapter 11) governs consumer fireworks statewide. Adults 18+ may use them, but never within 150…

In Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, a person 18 or older can buy, possess and use consumer fireworks, but…

Pennsylvania's Act 43 of 2017 legalized consumer 1.4G fireworks for adults 18 and older. You cannot discharge within…

Montgomery County itself sets no fireworks rule. Pennsylvania law lets adults 18+ use consumer fireworks, but bans use…

Pennsylvania's Act 43 of 2017 (the Fireworks Law) legalized consumer fireworks statewide and largely preempts local…

Scranton bans consumer fireworks use on any street, sidewalk, park or public building without the property owner's…

Upper Darby follows Pennsylvania's fireworks law in Chapter 303: adults 18 and older can buy and use consumer…

Pennsylvania's Act 74 of 2022 governs fireworks statewide, not York County. Adults 18+ may buy and use consumer (1.4G)…

No Philadelphia-specific ordinance directly imposes wildland-style defensible-space or brush-clearance requirements…

Pennsylvania DEP regulations under 25 Pa Code Chapter 129 prohibit open burning of trash and most refuse statewide. Air…

Abington Township bans open burning of refuse and salvage-operation fires townshipwide under Section 65-3 of its Code…

Allentown lies inside the state-designated 'Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton air basin' (25 Pa. Code 121.1), where 25 Pa…

Bensalem Township Code Section 107-18 bans burning garbage, refuse, trash, debris, uprooted trees, bushes, leaves…

In Bristol Township, Bucks County, the Township Code bans outdoor burning of municipal waste, yard waste and recyclable…

Burning garbage, recyclable materials, leaf waste, or grass clippings is unlawful in the City of Erie at all times…

Burning any material on public or private property, streets, alleys or sidewalks in the City of Harrisburg…

Penn Hills bans burning any solid waste anywhere in the Municipality, allowing burning only if it complies with the…

Open burning is broadly prohibited in Philadelphia. The Air Management Code (Section 3-202) bans open fires except for…

Scranton bans open burning citywide: no one may run a salvage operation or destroy refuse by burning it outdoors. The…

Allegheny County bans open burning without a permit and lets the Health Department stop any fire it deems a nuisance…

Bethlehem enforces its own version of the fire code's open-burning rule: any fire kindled outdoors must stay at least…

Bucks County's Park System Rules flatly prohibit setting fire to any tree, woodland, brush, grassland or meadow, and…

Haverford Township bars open fires for destroying refuse or running a salvage operation anywhere outside a building…

Lower Merion Township bans open burning of rubbish, refuse, leaves, tree branches and yard trimmings on any street or…

In Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County, Chapter 106 Article IV prohibits open burning of refuse and recyclables…

Pottstown bans burning municipal waste, including household rubbish, brush, leaves and yard trimmings, anywhere in the…

Reading requires a Fire Code Official permit before anyone ignites, causes to be ignited, or maintains any open burning…

Open burning of leaves, brush, garbage and debris is regulated by PA DEP (25 Pa Code §129.14) and your municipality…

Outdoor burning in Chester County is governed by Pennsylvania DEP air-quality rules at 25 Pa Code 129.14, not a county…

Open burning is regulated by PA DEP air rules (25 Pa. Code §129.14) and by each municipality, not by Delaware County…

Pennsylvania DEP rule 25 Pa. Code §129.14 sets the baseline: open burning is barred where its smoke, odor, or emissions…

In Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, Chapter 40, Article V governs open burning, bonfires, cooking fires…

Open burning in Monroe County runs on township ordinance plus PA DEP air rules (25 Pa. Code Ch. 129). Many townships…

Open burning in Montgomery County is governed by the PA DEP rule 25 Pa. Code §129.14 and your municipality's ordinance…

Pittsburgh requires a Fire Bureau permit for any open burning, plus a separate permit from the Allegheny County Health…

Everyday open burning is regulated by your municipality and by PA DEP (25 Pa. Code Sec. 129.14). York County's Board of…

Pennsylvania's Forest Fire Protection Law makes it a crime to set fire to any woodlot, forest, or wild land anywhere in…

In Haverford Township, owners of one- and two-family dwellings must install smoke detectors on each level and in each…

Abington Township requires a new single-station smoke detector on every level and in every bedroom of any…

Allentown's rental-licensing code makes it an occupant's legal duty, not just the landlord's, to keep a unit's smoke…

Bensalem Township will not issue a building or occupancy permit for any dwelling unit until required smoke detectors…

Bethlehem's day care facilities code requires a working smoke detector on every floor used by the facility, with an…

Erie's Quality of Life Ordinance requires working smoke alarms in every occupied dwelling and structure citywide…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Fire Code amendment at section 907.2.10.5 requires at least one smoke…

Before closing on a Lower Merion property sale, the seller must certify to the buyer that smoke detectors are installed…

In Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County, § 90-2 requires the owner of every dwelling unit, including each apartment in…

In Millcreek Township, Pennsylvania, every limited lodging (short-term rental) must have smoke detectors in each…

Every Philadelphia dwelling must have smoke alarms in each bedroom, outside sleeping areas, and on every story, powered…

Every existing multifamily building in the Borough of Pottstown must be protected by smoke detectors under Chapter 7…

Existing 3-to-9-unit Group R-2 rental buildings in Reading must have hardwired, interconnected smoke alarms in common…

Scranton's Fire Prevention Code requires smoke detectors on every story of every dwelling unit, including basements…

Upper Darby's fire code amendments require smoke alarms in existing buildings undergoing no construction, and in…

Penn Hills does not enforce its own smoke-detection or fire-alarm mandate anymore. The 1998 local rule requiring alarm…

Pennsylvania regulates propane and LP-gas storage statewide under the Propane and Liquefied Petroleum Gas Act (Act 61…

Abington Township's Fire Prevention Code caps bulk liquefied petroleum gas storage: any installation over 125 gallons…

Bethlehem forbids storing liquefied petroleum gas in its most residential zoning districts entirely, and caps it at…

In Bristol Borough, Pennsylvania, liquefied petroleum gas vessels at a mobile home park must be fastened upright, kept…

In Franklin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, the only propane storage rule in the township code is § 22-909, and…

Lower Merion requires bulk liquefied petroleum gas storage to follow the International Fire Code, and separately bans…

Propane-fueled outdoor fireplaces are allowed in Philadelphia only under L&I Code Bulletin F-0602 R1 - propane units…

Pittsburgh regulates propane and LP-gas storage through the International Fire Code 2009, adopted citywide by the…

Pottstown's Fire Code amendments set installation standards for propane and other aboveground storage tanks holding 499…

Upper Darby's amendments to the adopted 2015 International Fire Code make the whole Township a "heavily populated or…

Erie's Uniform Construction Code carves out propane gas installations entirely: tubing, piping, propane-burning…