Which Fireworks Are Legal, Which Are Banned In Takoma Park?

TAKOMA PARK, MD — Most Maryland officials would prefer you go to your community's fireworks celebration, or a big event like the Capitol Fourth, rather than lighting your own devices. With the Fourth of July just around the corner, it’s time for a reminder that fireworks are largely illegal in Maryland.

In Montgomery County, all fireworks are illegal to possess or discharge including gold label sparklers. Snap-and-pop noise makers, snakes, and party poppers are the only exception to this law, police said.

Some jurisdictions allow a variety of fireworks regulated by the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission. Legal devices in many of the surrounding jurisdictions include cones, sparklers, sparkling devices and novelties. Illegal fireworks include Roman candles, skyrockets, aerial shells with mortars, and firecrackers (check with your locality).

You can find a list of every authorized fireworks display in the state on the fire marshal's website: Public Firework Displays - 2017.

The state fire marshal’s office shares these safety tips:

• Keep ignition sources away from children
• Use fireworks only outdoors
• Light only one firework at a time and move quickly away from the firework
• Keep children and pets away from fireworks
• Never light fireworks in your hand
• Never throw fireworks
• Soak used fireworks in a bucket of water
• Clean up debris from fireworks
• Never attempt to re-light a firework that did not go off
• Wait 15-20 minutes if a firework did not go off, then soak in a bucket of water
• Do not allow children to handle ground-based or hand-held sparklers. The temperature of a sparkler can reach 1800 degrees Fahrenheit.
• When handling sparklers, do not wear loose clothing.
• You must be at least 16 years old to purchase hand-held and ground-based sparklers.

»Patch file photo by Mary Ann Barton