Michigan Fireworks Rules Most People Don’t Know They’re Breaking

Should fireworks be illegal after the Fourth of July in Michigan?

I think this is a question that anybody with a dog or an early morning job considers when people continue to light off fireworks into the night. The Fourth of July season always seems to bring more and more fireworks tents to our neighborhoods every single year.

This year in particular, I noticed more firework tents around than ever before. What transpired over the Fourth of July weekend was fireworks that went on well into the night and even past midnight in some cases.

But it gets to the point where it becomes a little ridiculous, like when fireworks are going off outside of my window at 11:45 at night on a Sunday leading into a workday Monday morning.

I understand not everybody has to wake up for work at 3 o’clock like me, but it doesn’t matter when you have to wake up; that’s a ridiculous time to be setting off colorful explosions that literally nobody else is enjoying.

The state of Michigan holds a pretty strict law when it comes to the times that you can light off fireworks, according to Michigan State police Lieutenant René Gonzales, who told WILX the timeframe, which has now officially expired:

State law in Michigan says that during the Fourth of July holiday, you’re allowed to set off fireworks between 11 AM and stop at 11:45 PM and that goes from June 29 through July 5. When you’re all done, look around your area, pick up all the debris, not to leave it for anyone else to have to pick up.

The law also includes July 5, but not if it falls anywhere from Sunday through Thursday, so those jerks lighting off fireworks last night around midnight were breaking the law. As the owner of a dog and someone who has to wake up for work extremely early, I would not mind if the law changed to make fireworks illegal, except for major holidays.