4th Of July 2023 Fireworks Laws: What’s Legal In MI

MICHIGAN — If you’re planning a do-it-yourself fireworks display to celebrate the 4th of July this year, knowing Michigan’s law on consumer fireworks is Step. 1.

Fireworks laws have been greatly deregulated since the turn of the century. Some types of fireworks are legal everywhere, except in Massachusetts, where it’s illegal to buy or sell consumer fireworks, or bring them in from states where they are legal. Many states allow the setting off of fireworks in the days before and after major holidays.

Michigan is among them.

The Michigan Fireworks Safety Act of 2011 allows the sale and use of consumer-grade fireworks in Michigan. The law was amended in 2018 to give local government entities, including villages, townships, and cities, the right to restrict the days and times residents can use consumer fireworks through the usage of a local ordinance.

State law requires the usage of fireworks to be allowed after 11 a.m. on these days:

• Dec. 31 until 1:00 a.m. on Jan. 1
• The Saturday and Sunday before Memorial Day, until 11:45 p.m.
• June 29 to July 4, until 11:45 p.m.
• July 5, if it falls on a Friday or Saturday, until 11:45 p.m.
• The Saturday and Sunday before Labor Day, until 11:45 p.m.

Michigan law requires that consumer-grade fireworks only be ignited from personal property. It is illegal to ignite fireworks on public property (including streets and sidewalks), school property, church property, or another person’s property without their express permission.

It is also illegal to set off fireworks while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.

When fire-related incidents involve consumer, low impact, or illegal fireworks resulting in property damage, injury or death of another person, individuals are subject to a misdemeanor or felony punishable by imprisonment of not more than five years and fines of up to $10,000 or both.

The strictest fireworks laws are in California, according to a map and list of state fireworks laws curated by Reader’s Digest. The law allows a limited window for fireworks use, from noon on June 28 through noon July 6, and restricts their use to people 16 and older.

Legal fireworks are ground and handheld sparkling devices, cylindrical and cone fountains, wheel and ground spinners, illuminating torches, and certain flitter sparklers. Prohibited fireworks are firecrackers, Roman candles, chasers, wire and wooden stick sparklers, and skyrockets.

Indiana has some of the most lenient laws. Anyone 18 or older can purchase and use fireworks whenever they want, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on non-holidays and later on holidays. All types of fireworks are legal as long as they meet U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission construction and labeling regulations.

States with stricter fireworks laws have cited data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that shows thousands of people are injured in fireworks-related accidents every year, with multiple deaths reported as well.

Fireworks injuries have spiked in recent years, and were up 25 percent between 2006 and 2021, according to the latest available emergency room data collected by the Consumer Product Safety Commission,

Some 11,500 people were treated at emergency rooms for fireworks injuries in 2021, down from 15,600 in 2020 when pandemic restrictions kept people at home. Nine people died from fireworks injuries in 2021 — six because of fireworks misuse and one because of a mortar launch malfunction, according to the Consumer Product Safety Association. That compares to 26 fireworks-related deaths in 2020.

The report found that 74 percent of the total estimated fireworks-related injuries occurred from June 18 to July 18, 2021.

Fireworks have always been part of Independence Day celebrations. After the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, that Independence Day “ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

The first Independence Day fireworks display occurred on July 4, 1777. They came in only one color — orange — back then, according to the Smithsonian Institution. Today, they light up the sky with red, white and blue, the color of the U.S. flag, but also other colors.

At the turn of the century, about a third of fireworks displays were professional shows, according to Scientific American.

Since then, states have gradually deregulated fireworks, partly to tap lost tax revenue from residents crossing state lines to buy fireworks in states with more-lenient laws, but also because of lax enforcement.