Honolulu — In recent years, events large and small, including parties, the Super Bowl, mixed martial arts matches and Thanksgiving, have led Hawaii residents to set off illegal fireworks.
The increasingly elaborate displays, loved by some and loathed by others, have become so widespread that some consider them part of the national culture. They shook packed houses, started fires, threatened pets and dropped a light fixture from the ceiling of an Associated Press reporter’s home, narrowly missing a child and shattering on the floor.
Every New Year’s Day, Honolulu officials release a list of casualties from the previous night’s fireworks. These typically include burns, shrapnel injuries, or amputations. Sometimes even death occurs.
But none of that damage compares to Tuesday night’s tragedy. A bundle of lit mortar-style aerials overturned and set off a box of unlit fireworks, setting off a series of explosions that killed three women and injured more than 20 people, including: Children. Another person died in an unrelated fireworks explosion on Oahu.
Authorities and residents alike are now wondering whether the toll will deter people from such shows in the future, or whether it will prompt police to make more effective efforts to crack down.
“This incident is a painful reminder of the dangers posed by illegal fireworks,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said at a press conference. “They put lives at risk, deplete our first responders, and wreak havoc on our neighborhoods.”
Efforts to crack down on contraband fireworks have had limited effect. In 2023, lawmakers created an illegal fireworks task force. Based on the ease with which fireworks were seized during the first few months of operation, including three shipping containers, state law enforcement concluded that illegal fireworks were likely being smuggled into Hawaii on a daily basis.
The task force seized a total of 227,000 pounds of fireworks, according to Gov. Josh Green.
Still, the Honolulu Fire Department reported Thursday that there were 30 fires related to fireworks between Tuesday and Wednesday, a 30 percent increase from last year’s New Year’s celebration.
Representative Gregg Takayama, who last year sponsored legislation to tighten fireworks regulations, said he remembers starting fireworks as a child and agrees it is a tradition for many people. But the Roman candles he played with are nothing compared to the candles sold on the black market today.
“The aerial fireworks being used now are literally explosive bombs,” he said. “So the risk is magnified.”
Charmaine Doran, vice president of the Pearl City Neighborhood Council, northwest of Honolulu, said the idea that fireworks are part of Hawaiian culture is a misconception. venerable.”
In her neighborhood, fireworks go off in the middle of the night after Halloween until New Year’s. Doran said you can tell if there’s a big mixed martial arts fight on TV because the buzz starts a day early.
Doran said enforcement is complicated on a small island where “we relate to everyone and everyone knows everyone” because people are reluctant to report their neighbors.
People fear retaliation, she added. “If I call 911, they’ll throw eggs at my house.”
This was the subject of some testimony before Congress in January. Pearl City resident Beverly Takushi described receiving threats from neighbors when she told her brother to stop setting off illegal fireworks during the show, which ran from 5:30 p.m. until after midnight on New Year’s Eve.
“Not only was my family and property at risk due to public fireworks, but this was the first time I received a threat to my safety from a neighbor who accused me of not respecting their culture,” Takushi said. “He has since apologized, but this is why no one wants to get involved and report their neighbors setting off bombs and airwaves.”
Many historians believe that fireworks were invented in China over 2,000 years ago and were used to symbolize joy and prosperity and to ward off evil. In Hawaii, it is celebrated not only by Chinese residents, but by the state’s diverse communities as a whole.
Takushi echoed Takayama’s point about the big difference between today’s large-scale, professional-level fireworks displays and the small-scale fireworks of the past.
“Lighting off a series of fireworks at midnight to ward off evil spirits is cultural, not loud explosives that sound like you’re at war,” Takushi said.
Richard Oshiro, secretary of the Waipahu Regional Council, known as one of Oahu’s hot spots for aerial displays, said he hoped this week’s deaths would spark a change in mindset about playing with explosives.
He said he tries to report cases whenever he can, even though he knows there’s little police can do “if they can’t catch people in the act.”
In Hawaii, possession of aerial fireworks or other illegal fireworks over 50 pounds is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Takayama said the law now allows photos and videos of fireworks to be submitted as evidence in court, but prosecution still faces hurdles.
“We already have the law on the books. “We have to find a better way to enforce this,” he said. “We constantly hear about people using illegal airwaves to report their neighbors, but nothing is done about it.”
The best way to control fireworks is to stop them in Hawaiian ports, Takayama said. Law enforcement agencies have information about which shipments contain illegal fireworks, and U.S. authorities have the authority to open suspicious shipments. The task force has made seizures, but more needs to be done, he said.
“We have to find a way to limit the amount of sparks coming in,” Takayama said. Because once the spark arrives and enters the community, it is very difficult to track it,” Takayama said.
___
Johnson reported from Seattle.
