Under a new law, Ohioans may legally discharge fireworks on certain holidays, including Independence Day.

But some Wood County communities are opting out of the new law.

Bowling Green Fire Division Chief Bill Moorman said the city will continue to follow its ordinance that outlaws the discharging of fireworks by city residents.

City administrators met Wednesday morning to discuss the issue.

Moorman said the city ordinance was first established in the 1920s but was amended in 1981.

“We’re going to keep that in place,” he said Wednesday.

He said the ordinance addresses safety concerns for injuries and fires.

“We still have those same concerns and we don’t think it’s a good idea to change it,” he said.

The new state law does not supersede the city’s local law, and ignoring the ordinance could result in a citation, according to a Wednesday afternoon press release

Walbridge Mayor Ed Kolanko told council at a special meeting on June 22 that Gov. Mike DeWine had given municipalities until today to opt out of House Bill 172.

If they don’t opt out, individuals — with some regulation — can use fireworks without any oversight from the village, Kolanko said.

He said he is concerned about the makeup of the village, and said that fireworks don’t fit into that.

“We have trailer parks, which present a fire hazard,” Kolanko said. “We have an older community. I think we have a lot of close houses.”

He recommended opting out, then revisiting it in the future, if needed.

“If we don’t opt out, we can’t restrict this,” Kolanko said. “If we don’t opt out, we lose all control.”

Councilman Ron Liwo said he was in favor of opting out. He said he was at a fireworks gathering once that went “haywire.”

“One of those things went up and it came right back down into this box of fireworks, and it went off. And it was like it was World War II,” Liwo said. “So I have an appreciation for the fact that somebody licensed should be doing it.”

He also asked if a fireworks ordinance would be enforced.

Kolanko said officers tend to give a warning.

The ordinance to opt out of the state law on permitting fireworks passed unanimously in Walbridge.

The Village of Haskins also has opted out of the state fireworks legislation and the village’s fireworks ordinance is still in place, which means the discharge, igniting or exploding of fireworks in the village is prohibited.

Other municipalities will allow the discharging of fireworks Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

“We’ve met internally, that would be the administration and with the fire division, and at this point, we’re just going to follow the Ohio Revised Code on the new fireworks law. We’re not going to make it any more restrictive at this point. We’re going to continue to monitor it to see if we have issues,” said Perrysburg police Chief Patrick Jones.

“We still do have noise ordinances in place. If people do call, regarding the noise after certain hours, we can still address the issue that way. Also, within the fire code there are things that the fire division can do, if folks are not using them safely,” he said.

He said that if issues come up, he will approach city council, with the possibility of making more restrictive codes.

“To the best of my knowledge, the new legislation covers the entire state, with the exception being municipalities that made the decision to make more stringent regulations, and they certainly have the authority by this legislation,” Perrysburg Township fire Chief Tom Brice said.

Perrysburg Township has decided to not enact any stricter regulations beyond the state legislation.

The police department does handle complaints about noises at night related to fireworks.

Belmont Country Club hires a professional fireworks exhibitor that is licensed by the municipality. The township provides a fire inspector to be on-site, during set-up.

“They discharge the 1.3 G fireworks, which are not the consumer grade fireworks authorized by this legislation. So they all have to be licensed,” Brice said. “We will also have fire suppression on-site. We have had issues in the past, neighbors having their own shows, prior to this legislation, that have created some issues for us. We’ve had to address those on occasion.”

Brice provided details about the potential dangers related to those shows and what the municipality can do about them.

“There are regulations regarding a professional show,” Brice said. “If you have a six-inch mortar, that can do a lot of damage to a human body. You don’t want fireworks from somebody’s personal show landing in that tube and causing premature detonation of those fireworks.It could potentially hurt somebody.”

He said the police and fire departments have talked with numerous residents in the area and asked them to wait to use their fireworks until after the professional show is finished.

“Some of this is hard to enforce. People set them off and it’s hard to tell where they are coming from. It’s usually a hundred people doing it at the same time, across the city, and we get overwhelmed with them,” Rossford police Chief Todd Kitzler said.

He said Rossford has not made any changes to make the laws more restrictive.

He added that, prior to the new law, they did their best at enforcement, which usually required complaints.

“If one neighbor called in, and gave a specific address, and we observed it, then we would enforce it. Usually, it was first a warning to stop, and then if they didn’t, we would issue a summons,” Kitzler added. “With the new law, they are legal, on certain holidays, and we will treat it the same way.

“They are still illegal on the other days. In my 30-year career, I think I’ve only seen two or three people get actual summons, because most people will stop doing it after the police identify them. They don’t want to have to deal with it, because it is criminal,” Kitlzer said.

Ohioans can legally discharge 1.4G consumer fireworks in Ohio on certain days unless the relevant political subdivision has chosen to ban their use.

Under previous law, individuals could purchase consumer-grade fireworks in Ohio but had to transport them out of state within 48 hours.

Beginning Friday, unless limited by local laws, Ohioans can discharge consumer fireworks on the following dates and times:

July 3-5, and the weekends immediately before and after (4-11 p.m.)

Labor Day weekend (4-11 p.m.)

Diwali (4-11 p.m.)

New Year’s Eve (4-11:59 p.m.)

New Year’s Day (12-1 a.m., 4-11 p.m.)

Chinese New Year (4-11 p.m.)

Cinco de Mayo (4-11 p.m.)

Memorial Day weekend (4-11 p.m.)

Juneteenth (4-11 p.m.)

Consumers can discharge fireworks on their own property or on another person’s property if the owner of that property has given express permission for fireworks to be discharged.