Before 2011, Kentuckians had to trek to bordering states to purchase fireworks because the Commonwealth historically outlawed the sale of fireworks.
The Kentucky state legislature voted in 2011 to allow the sale and use of fireworks within the state. Individuals who sold fireworks were required to register with the state Fire Marshal.
“As you recall at one point in the not too distant past, fireworks were illegal in Kentucky,” City Manager Tom Fromme said at a commission meeting last week. “A lot of people had to travel to Tennessee if they wanted to purchase fireworks.”
But in recent years, urban areas within Kentucky have seen a rise in firework related-debris and injuries. Due to the density of homes and businesses, there is a higher propensity for injury or property damage.
Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli, Jr. said he and other commissioners have received phone calls from concerned members of the public regarding the detonation of fireworks in their neighborhood.
In response to the rise in public unease, the Newport City Commission heard a first reading on an ordinance to repeal section 91.30 and 91.99 of the Code of Ordinances concerning fireworks, and to update the city’s current legislation surrounding fireworks.
There will be a second reading on the commissioners’ agenda at the next meeting scheduled for Sept. 19.
- Section 91.30 states, “The use and sale of fireworks, common or special, within the City, shall be governed by the provisions of KRS 227.700 et seq.” Exact details on the provisions of KRS 227.700 can be found by clicking here.
- Section 91.99 states, “Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall be subject to the same citation procedure and penalty provisions as prescribed in § 99.09 of this Code.”
“The state, when they legalized certain fireworks that were previously illegal, our ordinances had not caught up to the state changes yet,” Fromme told LINK nky.
If passed, Newport will add multiple updates to the Code of Ordinances, including clearly defining fireworks, increasing the penalty for violations, articulating age and time restrictions, prohibited conduct, display rules, personal consumer usage, and sale and usage rules.
Under the new code language, the definition of fireworks is worded as, “any device containing chemical elements and chemical compounds, capable of burning independently of the oxygen of the atmosphere and producing audible, visual, mechanical or thermal effects which are useful as pyrotechnic devices as entertainment.”
Newport is clearly outlining prohibited conduct under the Code of Ordinances, stating it is unlawful to discharge fireworks on any property owned or controlled by the city, such as sidewalks, streets/roadways, parks, playgrounds, sport fields, benches, bridges or within any city rights-of-ways.
Personal consumer usage of fireworks will be confined to privately owned homes, yards, porches, driveways, fields, parking lots or business premises. It will be unlawful for any person to aim or discharge fireworks at any house, vehicle or structure within the city.
People under the age of 18 will not be permitted to use or discharge fireworks unless its under parent or guardian supervision.
No fireworks shall be used or discharged between the hours of midnight and 9 a.m.
Fireworks will still be legal to sell at retailers or wholesalers within Newport.
The penalty for violations of any of the new provisions will be upgraded from a simple violation to a Class B misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $250.
Commissioner and former Newport Mayor Jerry Peluso described the area of West 6th and Patterson streets on July 3 as a “launching pad” for fireworks. Peluso also said the Public Works department had to use shovels to clean up all the firework debris after July 4.
“The ingredients that need to happen is education,” Peluso said. “People need to know what they can do and can’t do, and also enforcement.”
Fromme said the city would not be able to dictate whether or not an individual can detonate state-legal fireworks in their own yard.
“It doesn’t address single situations that could be hazardous situations. That’s done on a case-by-case basis,” Fromme said.
According to Fromme, the Newport Police Department receives hundreds of calls about fireworks on July 4. Fromme described policing new fireworks rules around July 4 as “difficult” because Newport is a small town with a small police department.
“The police department does about as good as it can do, with the manpower that they have,” Fromme said.
Fromme said Newport plans on detailing their new fireworks rules to the public in their upcoming fall newsletter, which has yet to be released.
“We need to respect each other and each other’s surroundings because these have been shot off in confined spaces,” Guidugli said.
Kentucky fireworks laws permit the sale of fireworks to anyone over the age on 18. This includes items such as roman candles, bottle rockets, sky rockets and firecrackers among others.
A 2021 US Consumer Product and Saftey Commission study found that most of the reported firework-related injuries are due to negligence, not malfunction of a product. Thirty-one percent of fireworks-related bodily injuries happen to the hands and fingers, while 21 percent happen to the hands, face and ears.
In the Louisville Metro Area and Jefferson County, the only permitted consumer fireworks are handheld and ground sparkling devices, with the stipulation that they must be at least 200 feet from any structure. All arial and ground consumer fireworks are banned without a proper permit.
