HONOLULU — In recent years, occasions large and small—parties, Super Bowls, martial arts fights, even Thanksgiving—have given Hawaii residents reason to set off illegal fireworks.
The increasingly sophisticated displays, loved by some and hated by others, are so prevalent that some consider them part of the state’s culture. They’ve shaken well-stocked neighborhoods, set fires, terrorized pets and thrown a light fixture from the ceiling of an Associated Press reporter’s house, causing a child to miss and smash on the floor.
On New Year’s Day, Honolulu officials release a list of the dead from the previous night’s fireworks, usually from burns, shrapnel wounds or amputations. Sometimes there are deaths.
But none of the damage matched Tuesday night’s tragedywhen he set off a series of lit mortar-style aerials and fired at boxes of unlit fireworks, killing three women and injuring more than 20 people, including children, causing a series of explosions. Another person died in an unrelated fireworks explosion on Oahu.
Officials and residents now wonder whether the toll will dissuade people from organizing such shows in the future, or encourage more effective police efforts.
“This incident is a painful reminder of the danger posed by illegal fireworks,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said at a news conference. “They put lives at risk, drain our first responders and tear our neighborhoods apart.”
Efforts to break fireworks have had a limited effect on smuggling. In 2023, lawmakers created a task force on illegal fireworks. Based on the ease with which fireworks were intercepted, including three shipping containers, during the first months of operation, the State Department of Law Enforcement concluded that illegal fireworks are being smuggled into Hawaii on a daily basis.
The task force seized a total of 227,000 pounds (about 103,000 pounds) of fireworks, according to Gov. Josh Green.
However, the Honolulu Fire Department reported Thursday that there were 30 fireworks-related fires between Tuesday and Wednesday, a 30 percent increase from last year’s New Year’s celebrations.
Rep. Gregg Takayama, who sponsored legislation passed last year to tighten controls on fireworks, said he remembers setting them off when he was younger and admits it’s a tradition for many. But the ones he played with, including Roman candles, paled in comparison to those on the black market today.
“The aerial fireworks that are being used now are actually explosives,” he said. “And so the risk increases.”
Charmaine Doran, vice president of the Pearl City neighborhood committee in northwest Honolulu, called it a misconception that fireworks are part of Hawaiian culture: “They’ve been outlawed my whole life…and I’m pretty old.”
In his neighborhood, fireworks go off after Halloween and explode in the middle of the night until New Year’s. Doran said he can tell if there’s a big martial arts fight on TV because the booms start earlier.
Enforcement is complicated because people are reluctant to report residents on a small island where “we’re related to everybody, everybody knows each other,” Doran said.
People fear retribution, he added: “If I call 911, they’re going to raid my house.”
That was the subject of some testimony to Parliament last January. Beverly Takushi, a Pearl City resident, described being threatened by a neighbor when she told her brother to stop setting off illegal fireworks during a display that lasted from 5:30 p.m. to just before midnight on New Year’s Eve.
“It was the first time that aerial fireworks threatened me not only because of the danger to my family and property, but also because of my safety from this neighbor who accused me of disrespecting his culture,” Takushi said. “Then he apologized, but that’s why no one wants to participate and complain that the neighbors are throwing bombs and aerials.”
Many historians believe that fireworks were invented in China more than 2,000 years ago and their use came to signify joy and prosperity, as well as to ward off evil. They are celebrated not only by residents of Chinese descent in Hawaii, but in many communities across the state.
Takushi echoed Takayama’s point about the big difference between today’s large, professional fireworks and the smaller ones of the past.
“A string of firecrackers at midnight to ward off evil spirits is cultural, not loud explosions like you’re in the middle of a war,” Takushi said.
Richard Oshiro, secretary of the Waipahu neighborhood committee, known as one of Oahu’s hot air show sites, said he hopes this week’s deaths will spur a change in mentality about playing with explosives.
He said he tries to report it whenever he can, even though he knows the police won’t do much if they “can’t catch people in the act.”
Possession of aerial or other illegal fireworks over 50 kilograms (about 23 pounds) in Hawaii is a felony 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 have to find better ways to enforce them,” he said. “I mean we hear all the time about people reporting that their neighbors are using illegal aerials, but nothing is being done about it.”
Takayama said the best way to control fireworks is to stop them at the ports of Hawaii. Law enforcement knows exactly which shipments contain illegal fireworks and US authorities have the power to open suspicious shipments. The task force has made arrests, but he said he needs to do more.
“We have to find ways to limit the fireworks that are coming in, because once they arrive and once they’re in the community, it’s very difficult to track them,” Takayama said.
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Johnson reported from Seattle.
