Minimum safety distances for category F4 fireworks used in fireworks displays

The safety zone of a display refers to a ground or water area surrounding the launch site that must be sufficiently secured to ensure no unauthorised persons can access the area during the display. The product requiring the largest safety zone determines the safety zone for the entire display. The safety zone is a circular area around the launch site and its size is indicated with its diameter. The safety zone can be bordered by structures or bedrock, for example, that can make the safety zone slightly smaller.

A protected site refers to a building that is difficult to evacuate. Such buildings include hospitals, nursing homes and prisons, for example. Storage tanks containing flammable liquid or gas are also protected sites, excluding individual fuel tanks of vehicles.

Table 1 applies to category F2 and F3 fireworks for the applicable parts. The safety zones of aerial shells in Table 1 apply to aerial repeaters that contain individual shells that resemble aerial shells and have a bursting charge.

Tukes drafted this table in cooperation with Pyro- ja ilotulitustaiteen edistämisyhteisö ry, which promotes professional fireworks displays in Finland.

Minimum safety distances for category F4 fireworks
Product Safety zone  [m] Distance to people, roads and residential buildings  [m]123 Distance to protected sites [m]
Mines, comets and products without a bursting charge4   Distance is 11 m/25 mm tube's inner diameter Distance is always 2 x the required distance to people, roads and residential buildings
30 mm 28 14 28
45 mm 40 20 40
Aerial shells   Distance is 22 m/25 mm tube's inner diameter Distance is always 2 x the required distance to people, roads and residential buildings
≤ 1” 46 23 46
1,5” 64 32 64
2” 85 43 85
2,5” 107 54 107
3” 128 64 128
4” 171 85 171
5” 213 107 213
6” 256 128 256
7” 299 149 299
8” 341 171 341
10” 472 213 472
12” 512 256 512

1 The launch tubes can be tilted for compensating for the wind conditions, but only in a manner that ensures the debris will fall within the safety zone. In this case, no changes are required to the safety zone.

2 The launch tubes can be tilted for aesthetic reasons, but the new angle will increase the requirement for the safety zone towards the tilting direction.

3 The safety zone can include buildings not intended for residential use and not considered protected sites. The safety distance to sites that are not easily flammable can be 10–40 m depending on the tube’s diameter.

4 The safety zone requirements of aerial shells are always applied to fireworks with a bursting charge.