With the Fourth of July around the corner, the question lighting up neighborhood group chats across Fishers is a familiar one: When can I legally set off fireworks, and what am I allowed to use?

City ordinance has the answers, and the rules are more specific than many residents realize. Here is what Fishers law says about consumer fireworks, when you can use them, and what happens if you don’t follow the rules.

The dates and times that matter

Fishers does not allow consumer fireworks year-round or at all hours. The city’s ordinance (Chapter 99) spells out exactly when it is legal to set them off, and the window is narrower than the holiday season might suggest.

Around Independence Day, fireworks are permitted between 5:00 p.m. and two hours after sunset on June 29, June 30, July 1, July 2, July 3, July 5, July 6, July 7, July 8, and July 9. Because sunset in central Indiana in early July falls around 9:15 p.m., that generally means the legal window closes near 11:15 p.m. on those days.

July 4 itself gets the longest leash. On the holiday, fireworks are allowed from 10:00 a.m. all the way to midnight.

The only other legal window in the calendar comes at New Year’s: from 10:00 a.m. on December 31 until 1:00 a.m. on January 1.

Set off fireworks outside those specific dates and hours — including the days immediately before June 29 or after July 9 — and you’re breaking city law.

What counts as a “consumer firework”

The ordinance’s timing rules apply to “consumer fireworks,” a category defined by federal safety standards. In plain terms, it covers the aerial and noise-making devices most people picture: sky rockets, missile-type rockets, helicopter and aerial spinners, Roman candles, mines, shells, firecrackers, salutes and chasers, plus combination items.

Some items are excluded from that definition entirely and remain legal to use, though state permitting rules and statutes can still apply. That list includes wire sparklers and dipped sticks, cylindrical and cone fountains, illuminating torches, wheels, ground spinners, flitter sparklers, snakes and glow worms, smoke devices, and novelty “trick noisemakers” such as party poppers, snappers and booby traps.

A few things are flatly banned. The ordinance specifically excludes — and federal law prohibits — M-80s, cherry bombs and silver salutes, along with any other device the federal government has outlawed.

Big shows are a different story

The neighbor-with-a-mortar rules don’t apply to professional displays. Supervised public fireworks shows put on by municipalities, fair associations, amusement parks and similar organizations are exempt from Chapter 99’s date-and-time limits, though they remain subject to state permitting requirements and statutes. That’s why a city-sanctioned show can light up the sky on a schedule that wouldn’t be legal in your backyard.

Who enforces it, and what it costs

Two agencies share enforcement: the Fishers Department of Fire and Emergency Services and the Fishers Police Department. Either can issue a citation for violating the ordinance.

Violators must pay a fine to the city’s Ordinance Violations Bureau, set under a separate section of city code (§ 36.08). If a fine goes unpaid, the City Attorney’s office can file an enforcement action in Fishers City Court.

The bottom line

If you’re planning to celebrate at home, the safest bet is simple: save the big stuff for July 4, when you have from 10 a.m. to midnight, and otherwise stick to the 5 p.m.-to-two-hours-after-sunset window on the surrounding permitted days. Keep sparklers and fountains handy for the in-between, know your neighbors may be just as tired as you are by late evening, and have a hose or bucket of water close by.

Have a safe and happy Fourth, Fishers.

The full text of the ordinance is available through the city’s online code library under Chapter 99. This article summarizes the law and is not legal advice.