For many islanders, the extravagantly incendiary way their neighbors mark the approach of a new year — with illegal fireworks — causes alarm, rather than celebration.

On Dec. 31, 2021, police fielded about 800 calls related to fireworks on Oahu alone. That’s surely the tip of the iceberg of people who cringe or bristle as the fiery, noisy illegal aerials and booming “concussive” noise-bombs explode across Hawaii.

Honolulu police will increase patrols tonight, New Year’s Eve, and tomorrow, New Year’s Day, and that’s a good thing. They also advise that they’re placing special emphasis on discouraging drunken driving, use of illegal fireworks, and parking on the side of the freeway to watch pyrotechnics that are especially extravagant, as they notoriously are along the Ewa Plain.

Arrests and prosecutions for fireworks require witnessing a violation, but scofflaws be warned: Plainclothes officers will be on duty in Honolulu overnight, and they will be looking out for illegal fireworks in Oahu neighborhoods.

Honolulu’s Department of Parks and Recreation closed Puuloa Beach Park in Ewa Beach at 8 p.m. Friday, and it will remain closed until 5 a.m. Sunday in an attempt to quell use of illegal fireworks at the beach, which has been a hub for detonations over past New Year’s Eves.

Legally purchased firecrackers can be set off between 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

As for illegal combustibles: Anyone caught holding or using up to 25 pounds of illegal fireworks could face a fine of $200 to $2,000. And it’s now a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in jail and a $10,000 fine, to use, possess or sell more than 25 pounds of illegal fireworks.

“The big takeaway on the fireworks,” said Honolulu police Capt. James Slayter, is: “They’re dangerous. … You could unintentionally cause loss of life or property.”

And hey, can we all agree that this growing trend of setting off explosives that let out a bang comparable to that of a small missile detonating, year-round, is no good? The “big bang” explosives aren’t in keeping with any kind of friendly, families-having-fun traditions. There is no excuse for setting them off.

People selling these noise bombs — or the material needed to make them — must be held responsible, and some community cooperation is needed to identify and report the misguided people who are using them.

Be safe, Hawaii — and Happy New Year.