Will a devastating New Year’s Eve explosion change Hawaii’s fireworks culture?

HONOLULU — In recent years, occasions big and small — parties, Super Bowls, mixed-martial arts fights, even Thanksgiving — have given Hawaii residents a reason to set off illegal fireworks.

The increasingly sophisticated displays, loved by some and loathed by others, are so widespread that some people consider them part of the state’s culture. They have roiled neighborhoods of tightly packed homes, set fires, terrorized pets and knocked a lamp from the ceiling of an Associated Press reporter’s home, where it narrowly missed a child and fell to the floor.

Every New Year’s Day, Honolulu officials release a list of fireworks casualties from the night before, usually a litany of burns, shrapnel or amputations. Sometimes there are deaths.

But no amount of damage has been matched Tuesday night’s tragedywhen a lighted cluster of mortar-like antennas fell over and shot into crates of unlit fireworks, causing a series of rapid explosions that killed three women and injured more than twenty people, including children. Another person was killed in an unrelated fireworks explosion on Oahu.

Authorities and residents alike are now wondering whether the toll will deter people from organizing such shows in the future, or whether it will spur more effective police efforts to crack down.

“This incident is a painful reminder of the danger of illegal fireworks,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said at a news conference. “They endanger lives, exhaust our first responders and disrupt our neighborhoods.”

Attempts to act on contraband, fireworks have had a limited effect. In 2023, lawmakers created a task force on illegal fireworks. Based on the ease with which it seized fireworks, including three shipping containers in its first few months of operation, the state Department of Law Enforcement concluded that illegal fireworks are likely smuggled into Hawaii on a daily basis.

According to Governor Josh Green, the task force seized a total of 227,000 pounds (about 103,000 kilograms) of fireworks.

And yet the Honolulu Fire Department reported Thursday that there were 30 fireworks-related fires between Tuesday and Wednesday, a 30% increase from previous New Year’s celebrations.

Rep. Gregg Takayama, who passed legislation last year to tighten fireworks controls, says he remembers lighting them off when he was younger and agrees it’s a tradition for many. But the candles he played with, including Roman candles, pale in comparison to those available on the black market today.

“The kind of aerial fireworks that are being used now are really explosive bombs,” he said. “And so the danger is increased.”

Charmaine Doran, the vice president of the neighborhood council in Pearl City, northwest of Honolulu, called the idea that fireworks are part of Hawaiian culture a misconception: “They’ve been banned my whole life… and I’m quite old.”

In her neighborhood, fireworks go up after Halloween and explode in the middle of the night until New Year’s. Doran said she can tell if there’s a big mixed martial arts fight on TV because the booms start earlier in the day.

Enforcement is complicated because people are reluctant to report their neighbors on a small island where “we’re related to everyone, everyone knows everyone,” Doran said.

People fear retaliation, she added: “If I call 911, they’re going to storm my house.”

That was the theme of testimony before the Legislature last January. Beverly Takushi, a Pearl City resident, described once being threatened by a neighbor when she told his brother to stop lighting illegal fireworks during a show that lasted from 5:30 PM on New Year’s Eve until after midnight.

“It was the first time that I was threatened not only by the danger of the aerial fireworks to my family and property, but also to my safety by this neighbor who accused me of disrespecting his culture,” Takushi said. “He has since apologized, but this is why no one wants to get involved and report their neighbors exploding bombs and antennas.”

Many historians believe that fireworks were invented in China more than 2,000 years ago and that their use symbolized joy and prosperity and ward off evil. In Hawaii, they are celebrated not only by residents of Chinese descent, but by all of the state’s diverse communities.

Takushi echoed Takayama’s point about the stark difference between today’s large, professional fireworks and the smaller fireworks of yesteryear.

“A series of firecrackers at midnight to ward off evil spirits is cultural, not loud explosives that sound like you are in the middle of a war,” Takushi said.

Richard Oshiro, secretary of the Waipahu Neighborhood Council, known as one of Oahu’s hotspots for aerial displays, said he hopes this week’s deaths will change attitudes about playing with explosives.

He said he tries to file reports whenever he can, even though he knows there’s not much police can do if “they can’t catch people in the act.”

Possession of more than 50 pounds (about 23 kilograms) of aerial or other illegal fireworks is a misdemeanor in Hawaii punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Takayama noted that the law now allows photos and videos of fireworks to be submitted as evidence in court, but said prosecutions still face hurdles.

“We already have laws on the books. We need to find better ways to enforce them,” he said. “I mean, we hear all the time about people reporting on their neighbors using illegal antennas, but nothing is done about it.”

The best way to control fireworks is to stop them at Hawaii’s ports, Takayama said. Law enforcement has information about which shipments contain illegal fireworks, and U.S. authorities have the power to open suspicious shipments. The task force has made seizures but must do more, he said.

“We have to find ways to limit the amount of fireworks that come in because once they arrive and once they are in the community, it is very difficult to track them,” Takayama said.

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Johnson reported from Seattle.