The bursts of illegal pyrotechnics that lit up the Oahu skyline over the New Year’s holiday was indeed a spectacle — by far the most brazen display by fireworks scofflaws since the city’s partial fireworks ban took effect in 2011.
It’s painfully clear that the black-market pipeline for aerials and other contraband items is thriving. And for that very reason, Honolulu police will have to be vigilant this year in targeting the sources of illegal fireworks. By the time those aerials, fountains and novelties hit the street and fuses are being lit, the window for enforcement has all but closed.
Police officers have to witness illegal fireworks being set off or get a statement from a witness in order to cite a violator, which makes enforcement extremely difficult. A few callers have provided statements to police, but most find it awkward to call the cops on their neighbors and openly file a complaint.
Some residents argue the unenforceability of the ban should be reason enough to repeal it, but perhaps they need a reminder of why the ordinance was enacted in the first place. The whole point of the partial ban was to lower the number of fireworks-related injuries, decrease asthma attacks and other ailments, and reduce litter from fireworks’ debris.
Further, Oahu is far from the rural community it used to be; city living has clustered structures and people more closely together, increasing the dangers from errant fireworks and smoke.
The injury statistics compiled by the Honolulu Emergency Services Department underscored the ban’s necessity. In each fireworks season in the four years preceding the ban, there were an average of 50 injuries to children under 16 — more than they suffered in an average month from car accidents, assaults, poisonings or pedestrian collisions. And, obviously, fireworks cause fires. Illegal aerials caused a fire that badly damaged a home in Ewa Beach on New Year’s Eve.
In the first few years the ban was in place, residents seemed to have dialed down their celebra-tions. But in December, police received 2,600 calls about illegal fireworks, and in a 24-hour period that ended at 5 a.m. New Year’s Day, police received 862 fireworks-related calls. There were 970 calls about illegal fireworks for all of 2014. Think about that: nearly the same number of calls within 24 hours compared to 365 days.
Even the length of the fireworks season was stretched late last year, with homemade “booms” starting well before the holiday shopping period.
That gives Honolulu police all the more reason to start its enforcement efforts earlier this year, which the department says it will do. It’s encouraging to hear Honolulu Police Department Assistant Chief Alan Bluemke say undercover operations will possibly start in September or October to find distributors of illegal fireworks and aerials.
Although police issued 151 citations for fireworks violations in December — more than double the number in 2014 (62) and in 2013 (60) — it was simply not enough to deter the illegal activity. There were five arrests — two adults and three children — for violations, compared to no arrests in 2014.
Police also confiscated about 2,800 pounds of illegal fireworks around the island. But again, more will need to be done to get at the source.
State Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) is heeding that call and will be introducing a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would establish random inspections of shipping containers for explosives using bomb-sniffing dogs.
The inspections would be run by the Sheriff’s Department and the program would be paid for by a small fee on shipping containers. As an added deterrent, Espero supports increasing penalties and sentences for those convicted of smuggling explosives.
Clearly, a coordinated effort is needed to defuse the black-market fireworks trade. For those who insist on starting the new year with a bang, there is a legal avenue to do just that — pick up a fireworks permit and light a string of firecrackers at midnight.
